Current contender for Democratic nomination and former vice-president Joe Biden has never been shy about expressing his faith with the nation. Biden was visibly moved recently, though, when Reverend Anthony Thompson asked Biden about his faith and how it affects his personal and political choices.

Both Biden and Thompson have suffered great tragedy over the years. Thompson is an Episcopalian minister whose wife was killed in the 2015 Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church massacre, and Biden lost a son to brain cancer the same year. Biden also lost his first wife and a daughter in a traffic crash in 1972.

“Well, reverend, I kind of know what it’s like to lose family, and my heart goes out to you,” Biden said, fighting tears. “As you may remember — after Barack and Michelle and I were there — I came back on that Sunday because I had just lost my son. And I wanted some hope because what you all did was astounding.”

Biden struggled with emotion as he responded during a CNN Townhall moderated by Chris Cuomo.

“I don’t know whether you all know this,” Biden said, addressing the crowd. “All of those who died, who were killed by this white supremacist, they forgave him. They forgave him. The ultimate act of Christian charity.”

After the shooting at the Charleston church, the congregation publically forgave the man who shot and killed nine members of their church.

“I happen to be a practicing Catholic,” Biden said. “I found that there’s that famous phrase from [Søren] Kierkegaard: ‘Faith sees best in the dark.’ I find the one thing it gives me — and I’m not trying to proselytize, I’m not trying to convince you to share my religious views — but for me it’s important because it gives me some reason to have hope. And purpose. I’ve learned the only way, I don’t know how you’ve dealt with it, reverend, but the way I’ve been able to deal with when my wife was killed and my daughter was killed and then my son died. I’ve only been able to deal with it by realizing they’re part of my being.”

Bident continued on, saying he was inspired by the changes Thompson and his community were able to make in South Carolina in the years since the mass shooting. He specifically highlighted the removal of the Confederate flag from public statehouses.

“You’re the ones who changed the attitude in this state in a way that was profound,” he said. “And I think that’s how it gets done.”