Latest: New Gov. Edwards starts Inauguration Day with prayer

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The latest developments from Inauguration Day in Louisiana:

8:15 a.m.

Incoming Louisiana governor, John Bel Edwards, has started the day of his swearing-in ceremony with prayer.

Edwards, his family, friends and supporters on Monday morning attended a Catholic mass at a downtown Baton Rouge cathedral. The mass was by invitation only, closed to the public and media.

Edwards' inauguration ceremony will be held a few hours later on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol, where he'll take the oath of office as Louisiana's 56th governor. He's expected to call for bipartisanship and unity in his speech, a nod to his need to work with a majority Republican Legislature to fix the state's financial problems.

Six other statewide elected officials also will take their oaths of office with Edwards. Louisiana's 144 state lawmakers will be seated before the inauguration ceremony.