In a message to the second Catholic president, Pope Francis prayed that Joe Biden would work to heal the divisions in U.S. society and promote human dignity and peace around the globe.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell unpack this question: What makes the Vatican’s judicial system different from a modern democratic one, like Italy’s, and what are its pros and cons?

At the inauguration of the second Catholic president in U.S. history, Jesuit Father Leo O’Donovan asked God to “help us under our new president to reconcile the people of our land.”

Hours before his inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden, his family, friends and congressional leaders of both parties gathered for Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.

The first 25 shelter residents were vaccinated Jan. 20, the Vatican said, and more will be given the vaccine in the coming days.

Cardinal Dolan said President-elect Joe Biden “speaks with admirable sensitivity about protecting the rights of the weakest and most threatened” but also “ran on a platform avidly supporting this gruesome capital punishment for innocent preborn babies.”