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(NewsNation) — Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, and evangelical leader Rev. Franklin Graham delivered the invocation at Donald J. Trump’s inauguration.
Before he began his prayer, Graham addressed the president-elect. “Mr. President, the last four years, there were times I’m sure you thought it was pretty dark. But look what God has done,” he said to applause.
In his prayer, Cardinal Dolan recalled General George Patton’s instructions to his soldiers before the Battle of the Bulge during World War II: “Pray. Pray when fighting, pray alone, pray with others, pray by night, pray by day.”
Trump’s inauguration falls on Martin Luther King Day, a federal holiday commemorating the birthday of the civil rights leader. “Without God, our efforts turn to ashes,” Dolan said, quoting Rev. King.
Rev. Graham credits God for saving Trump’s life
Rev. Graham credited God for saving the incoming president’s life. “Father, when Donald Trump’s enemies thought he was down and out, you and you alone saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by your mighty hand,” he said. In July, Trump was wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
According to Religion News Service, President Trump was raised a Presbyterian but now identifies as a nondenominational Protestant. First lady Melania Trump confirmed she is a Roman Catholic after visiting the Vatican in 2017. She is the first Catholic first lady since Jacqueline Kennedy.
Vice President JD Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019. In a 2020 essay, he said, “I came eventually to believe that the teachings of the Catholic Church were true, but it happened slowly and unevenly.” In that same essay, Vance said his wife Usha, who practices Hindu, supported him from the beginning of that process.