There is no question that president-elect Joe Biden is a devout Catholic. When giving his victory speech after winning the election, he barely made it midway through the address before dropping a Bible reference. He read from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and shared the Christian hymn “On Eagles Wings”. He concluded: “God loves you all. May God bless America and may God protect our troops.”

Many are quick to dismiss this type of spiritual embrace as an act of formality. But many are seeing Biden’s faith as a new era for religious liberals. It has been building up the last for years as the Christian left has passionately been challenging Trump’s conservative views the last four years.

Some are noting that Biden has crammed more religious rhetoric in his speeches over the last several months than any president in recent history, both Democrat and Republican. For example, he doubled up on Bible references during his Thanksgiving address. He shared from Psalm 28 and using Jesus Christ’s Golden Rule as a way to coax Americans into staying safe during the holiday, saying, “to love our neighbors as ourselves is a radical act, but it’s what we’re called to do.” Despite his intensive schedule as he transitions to the leader of the country, Biden is also attending Mass at least once a week.

Others are also pointing out that Biden is not the only left-leaning politician who is leaning more into their religion yesterday. Democratic lawmakers from across the liberal spectrum appear to be in the midst of a spiritual revival of sorts: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic, referenced prayer repeatedly this year. And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another Catholic, explained in January that Jesus’ call to “love thy neighbor” undergirds her support for progressive policies.

While it’s true that religiously unaffiliated Americans are likely to skew liberal, most Democrats remain people of faith, and they’re hardly spiritual novices. A new era of left-wing religious expression might soon be upon us, where religious liberals no longer feel the need to only hide, explain, or justify their faith.