Joe Biden accepts presidential nomination

By Vatican News

Delivering his speech on Thursday from his hometown of Wilmington in Delaware on Thursday, Joe Biden vowed to usher in a new presidential era.

Accepting the Democratic party nomination at the conclusion of this virtual Democratic Convention, he said, "The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division".

"Here and now, I give you my word: if you entrust me with the presidency, I'll draw on the best of us, not the worst … We'll choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege."

Time for unity

In a speech that was the fruit of five decades in politics, the Democratic presidential candidate stressed that he would “be an ally of the light, not the darkness.”

On June 8 this year, the former Vice-President became the apparent presidential nominee by collecting enough delegates to secure the nomination. His nomination was confirmed at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Wisconsin on Tuesday.

On Thursday night, he said, "It's time for us, for we the people, to come together. And make no mistake, united we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America”.

"We can choose a path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, more divided, a path of shadow and suspicion, or we can choose a different path and together take this chance to heal, to reform, to unite.”

4 simultaneous crises

Mr. Biden described the upcoming poll as a “life-changing election” which would “determine what America is going to look like for a long, long time."

Speaking in a near-empty arena, due to the current pandemic, he said the country was facing a “perfect storm” of four simultaneous crises: race, the Coronavirus, an economic downturn and the climate crisis.

As President, Mr. Biden pledged to be a unifying force who would work "just as hard" for those who do not support him as for those who do.

An American moment

"While I'll be a Democratic candidate, I'll be an American president," said Biden, who faces Trump in the 3 November election. “That’s the job of a president. To represent all of us, not just our base or our party. This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment. It's a moment that calls for hope, and light, and love.

If Joe Biden wins this election he will be just the second Catholic president of the United States, after John F. Kennedy.

Following Mr. Biden’s speech on Thursday, prayers and other invocations were offered by Jesuit Fr James Martin, a rabbi and an imam.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, will offer prayers at the Republican Convention next week.