Death of Joe Biden's son draws prayers from Delaware bishop

Wilmington, Del., Jun 1, 2015 / 05:18 pm (CNA).- Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Wilmington has offered his condolences and prayers to Vice President Joe Biden and his family, upon the death of his son Beau Biden.

“I pray that Our Lord will give them strength during this time of sadness and that they find consolation and hope in the knowledge that Beau is in the presence of a merciful God,” the Delaware bishop said June 1.

Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III died of brain cancer May 30 at the age of 46.

At the age of 3, Beau Biden was seriously injured in a 1972 car crash that killed his mother and infant sister, soon after his father was first elected to the U.S. Senate.

Beau Biden was a former federal prosecutor, a twice-elected attorney general of Delaware, and a major in an Army National Guard unit that deployed to Iraq, the Associated Press reports. He had been working at a prominent Delaware law firm and in 2014 had announced plans to run for governor.

Bishop Malooly said Beau Biden was “an outstanding husband and father and a hard-working public servant who left his mark on Delaware and our nation.”

“Over my seven years as Bishop of Wilmington, I always enjoyed my encounters and interactions with him,” the bishop continued. “He was truly a real gentleman in every way possible. May the Lord now provide him eternal life.”

Beau Biden is survived by his wife Hallie and two children, as well as a brother and a sister, stepmother Dr. Jill Biden, and his father, the first Catholic to hold the vice presidency.