Cardinal Timothy Dolan will lead the opening prayer at the inauguration of Donald Trump, president-elect of the United States, on January 20.
Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, announced that he would participate in the opening ceremonies during an interview with local news channel WPIX on December 24. Dolan also delivered the opening prayer during Trump’s inauguration in 2017, following his 2016 presidential victory.
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“The president was kind enough to ask me to do the opening prayer,” Cardinal Dolan told WPIX. “He had also asked me to do the 2016 one, so (when) he asked me this time, I said, ‘Well, I did it eight years ago; I hope this one works.’”
Dolan said in the interview that he had discussed matters of faith with Trump, a nondenominational Christian. The cardinal has said in the past that the former president “takes his Christian faith seriously”.
“I believe in President Trump and I believe that faith is awakening,” the cardinal said. “I think it may have had a bit of a resurgence. Hallelujah, because I don’t know how anyone can be president of the United States without a deep faith.”
Dolan said Trump “knows that something mystical occurred in the two assassination attempts” that occurred during the 2024 presidential campaign. Trump was shot in the ear at a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania in an assassination attempt that killed one person and injured six others. In September, a man was accused of trying to assassinate Trump while the candidate was golfing in Florida, but was caught before shooting.
“I reminded (Trump) that when Ronald Reagan visited John Paul II,” Dolan said, “both had been victims of heinous assassination attempts and had barely escaped with their lives. And Ronald Reagan said, ‘Holy Father, Mother Teresa told me that God spared my life because he had something important for me to accomplish,’ and John Paul II smiled at him and said, ‘Mr. President, Mother Teresa told me the same thing.’ , so why don’t we both work together and do something in the world?’”
The cardinal added that he believes the two assassination attempts probably “had something to do” with the president-elect’s growth in faith.
“You never know, because it’s all God’s work, not ours,” Dolan said. “Therefore, faith is a gift that is the initiative of God. It is not our energy that does it. We have to cooperate, we have to accept it.”
When Dolan delivered the opening prayer during Trump’s inauguration in 2017, the cardinal read the prayer of king solomon from the Book of Wisdom.
“Give us wisdom, for we are your servants, weak and short-lived, lacking understanding of judgment and laws. Indeed, although one may be perfect among mortals, if the wisdom that comes from you is lacking, we count for nothing,” Dolan prayed.
When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, the opening prayer was delivered by the former president of Georgetown University, Jesuit priest Leo J. O’Donovan.
“We confess our past failures to live up to our vision of equality, inclusion and freedom for all,” O’Donovan prayed. “However, we resolutely commit ourselves to renewing that vision, to caring for each other in word and deed, especially the less fortunate among us, and thus becoming a light to the world.”
Trump will also participate in an interfaith service on Sunday, January 19, one day before the inauguration.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.
Tyler Arnold
Tyler Arnold is a reporter for the National Catholic Register. He previously worked at The Center Square and has published in a variety of outlets, including The Associated Press, National Review, The American Conservative, and The Federalist.