Before we dive too deep into those muddy waters of the inauguration of Donald J. Trump yesterday, perhaps listen to the rousing Inaugural Blessing given by (Catholic!) Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York.
Dolan v. Cupich!
There are important points of comparison with Dolan’s address and that of Cardinal Cupich at the DNC convention, August 2024.
Cardinal Dolan’s cross was clearly displayed — Cupich’s was not.
Cardinal Dolan made the Sign of the Cross [at 13 seconds into the video above as he said “Let us pray.”] Cupich did not.
Neither Cardinal said “Jesus Christ” but both called on “God” repeatedly. Dolan prayed for “The Lord’s Blessing” and Cupich called on “The Lord” twice.
FULL TEXT of Cardinal Dolan’s Invocation:
Delivered at the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States, in the Rotunda of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., Monday, January 20, 2025.
“Be still and know that I am God.”
Supreme among the nations, supreme on the earth, [making the Sign of the Cross] let us pray:
Remembering General George Washington on his knees at Valley Forge, recalling Abraham Lincoln at his second inaugural, “with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right,” remembering Gen. George Patton’s instructions to his soldiers as they began the Battle of the Bulge eight decades ago:
“Pray! Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night. Pray by day.”
Observing the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King who warned, “Without God our efforts turn to ashes.”
We, blessed citizens of this one nation under God, humbled by our claim that “In God We Trust,” gather indeed this Inauguration Day to pray: for our president Donald J. Trump, his family, his advisers, his Cabinet, his aspirations, his vice president; for the Lord’s blessings upon Joseph Biden, for our men and women in uniform, for each other, whose hopes are stoked this new year, this Inauguration Day, we cannot err in relying upon that prayer from the Bible, upon which our president will soon place his hand in oath, as we make our own the supplications of King Solomon for wisdom as he began his governance.
God of our fathers, in your wisdom you set man to govern your creatures, to govern in holiness and justice, to render justice with integrity: Give our leader wisdom, for he is your servant aware of his own weakness and brevity of life, if wisdom, which comes from you be not with him he shall be held in no esteem. Send wisdom from Heavens that she may be with him, that he may know your designs.
Please, God bless America, please mend her every flaw. You are the God in whom we trust, who lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen!
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York.
Kevin Hay.
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