Originally published at National Catholic Register
Archbishop Gregory Aymond and Archbishop Emeritus Alfred Hughes presided over the service.
Catholic leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday attended an interfaith prayer service in New Orleans to pray for the victims of the deadly terror attack in that city on New Year’s Day.
Fourteen people were killed on Jan. 1 by a driver who rammed his truck into a crowd of New Year’s partiers on the city’s Bourbon Street. Officials said the truck had on it a flag of the Islamic State. The driver was subsequently killed in a shootout with police.
Biden was among the dignitaries at the Monday evening event at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. Archbishop Gregory Aymond and Archbishop Emeritus Alfred Hughes presided over the service.
“We know what it’s like to lose a piece of our soul,” Biden told the families of the victims. “The anger, the emptiness, the black hole that seems to be sucking you into your chest, the sense of loss, the questions of faith in your soul.”
“I promise you, the day will come,” Biden told them, “… when the memory of your loved one will bring a smile to your lips before a tear to
