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They say the 11 o'clock hour on Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America.
Breaking with that tradition, Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, has attended an integrated (well, technically, “black”) church for more than 30 years.
Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, have been parishioners of St. Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic Church in what is described as a “poor, predominantly black working-class neighborhood in Richmond, Va.,” since the early ‘80s. Kaine has been a practicing Catholic his entire life, and his faith is a pillar in his life.
According to NBC News, the senator returned to the church for a recent Sunday mass after being named as Hillary Clinton’s running mate and told reporters about his introduction to St. E’s:
“Anne found it in the summer of 1984. We were married here in November of 1984, and this and our neighborhood are really the center of our lives here. So we needed some prayers today, and we got some prayers, and we got some support, and it really feels good,” he said.
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His wife then spoke to the congregation: “Tim and I found our way to his parish 32 years ago almost by accident,” she said, then thanked the congregation for the prayers and promised that “we will all have a big party at the end no matter what happens.”
The senator, who is a tenor in the choir, was also asked to sing "Taste and See" for the congregation.
Kaine and his wife, who just resigned her post as Virginia’s secretary of education and is a former governor’s daughter who integrated Richmond’s public schools as a child, chose to send their three children to public school, another big departure from most politicians, who send their children to private institutions.
It’s one thing to talk the talk, but quite another to walk the walk.
Read more at NBC News.