American President Joe Biden came on February 22 to a meeting with the leaders of Eastern European countries – NATO members in Warsaw with a dark spot on his forehead. It was a trace from the cross inscribed with ashes, which he, as a Catholic, made on the day the Great Lent began.
The second Catholic president in US history held a private mass with Augustinian priest Wisław Davidowski. He said on social media that they prayed for peace together just days after Biden visited Ukraine. Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent for Catholics. The Hill.
“Today I had the honor to sprinkle ashes on the forehead of US President Joe Biden. Everything happened in the strictest secrecy, but now I can say: in a makeshift chapel, next to the presidential apartments, ”said Davidovsky.
Biden also celebrated Ash Wednesday in a private ceremony last year. He was in Washington and received the ashes from Cardinal Wilton Gregory, during which they prayed together for the people of Ukraine.
Biden, a well-known ice cream lover, admitted last year that he had cut out sweets for the duration of Lent.
Biden arrived in Kyiv on February 20, where he promised Ukraine another package of military assistance, and on the 21st he was in Warsaw. In the capital of Poland, he spoke in the garden of the Royal Castle after negotiations with President Andrzej Duda. He stated that the US and EU countries do not seek to control or destroy Russia. He also noted that Washington this week will announce new sanctions against the Russian Federation.
Leaving Warsaw, the US president traditionally stumbled and fell on the steps of the plane. So he again reminded that he is the oldest owner of the White House in history.
