With the election of Joe Biden, a new era is dawning in the relationship between the Holy See and the United States. President-elect Biden and Pope Francis have an opportunity to build a transformative global partnership for the common good in ways that could echo the way Ronald Reagan and Pope St John Paul II worked together to end the Cold War.

Biden, aged 77 and only the second Catholic in history to hold the office of president, is from the same generation as Francis, 83. Both of them were young adults during the Second Vatican Council, both rose to positions of responsibility at relatively young ages and both underwent periods of personal darkness before reaching their positions of “destiny” much later in life.

Francis and Biden both reject the divisive language of nationalist populism, both support multilateral institutions such as the United Nations and both prioritise the need to combat climate change and protect the environment. Unlike President John F. Kennedy, who rarely spoke about his personal faith and was constrained by anti-Catholic prejudice, Biden wears his faith on his sleeve. On the campaign trail, he cited Francis’ social encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, and in his victory speech last Saturday quoted Fr Michael Joncas’ hymn, “On Eagle’s Wings”, saying that it “captures the faith that sustains me and which I believe sustains America”.