Donald Trump sworn in as 47th president

In inaugural address, Trump pledged to reverse what he called ‘America’s decline’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second, nonconsecutive term in the White House Jan. 20, becoming the nation’s 47th president four years after he left office as its 45th.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, delivered the invocation during U.S. President Donald Trump’s swearing-in as the 47th U.S. president in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington Jan. 20.
In his inaugural address, Trump pledged to reverse what he called “America’s decline.”
“My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy. And, indeed, their freedom,” Trump said.
Trump took a sharply critical tone of his predecessor, without naming him, but also pledged “unity” moving forward.
In his address, Trump confirmed his plans to sign a series of executive orders on Day 1, including declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, shutting down “illegal entry,” and beginning “the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”
While Trump has not yet offered specifics on how he would carry out such a program, mass deportations more broadly run contrary to the Second Vatican Council’s teaching in “Gaudium et Spes” condemning “deportation” among other actions, such as abortion, that “poison human society” and give “supreme dishonor to the Creator,” a teaching St. John Paul II affirmed in two encyclicals on moral truth and life issues.
Executive orders are legally binding directives from the president and are published in the Federal Register. Conversely, the term “executive actions” is broader and may include informal proposals for policy the president would like to see enacted. While it is typical for new presidents to issue some executive orders on their first day to signal certain priorities, Trump signaled plans that were broader in scope. Some of his planned orders already face legal challenges.
In an oath administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, Trump pledged to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution, as that document requires.
JD Vance, previously Ohio’s senator, also took the oath of office, becoming the nation’s second Catholic vice president. Justice Brett Kavanaugh administered his oath.
The inauguration ceremony was moved indoors amid frigid temperatures in the nation’s capital, taking place in the Capitol Rotunda rather than the exterior West Front of the Capitol Building.
An opening prayer was delivered by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York. He cited the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose federal holiday was also observed Jan. 20, “who warned without God our efforts turned to ashes.”
The cardinal prayed that Trump “may know your designs,” and also wished God’s blessings on President Joe Biden in the final moments of his term.
Cardinal Dolan spoke alongside Franklin Graham, son of the late Baptist evangelist Billy Graham.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops did not release an Inauguration Day statement Jan. 20 but did post an Inauguration Day prayer on X. “Assist with your spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to your people over whom he presides,” it began. “May he encourage due respect for virtue and religion. May he execute the laws with justice and mercy. May he seek to restrain crime, vice, and immorality.”
The prayer also asked that the “light of your divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress” and for all U.S. citizens, “that we be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of your holy law.”
Prior to the ceremony, Presidents Trump and Biden met at the White House, marking the first time in generations a president had the same predecessor and successor. Only one president, Grover Cleveland, has previously served nonconsecutive terms in the White House. Others, including Martin Van Buren, tried and failed to return to the White House.
In a message to Trump, Pope Francis expressed “the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength, and protection in the exercise of your high duties.”
“Inspired by your nation’s ideals of being a land of opportunity and welcome for all, it is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion,” Pope Francis said, adding, “I also ask God to guide your efforts in promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples.”
At the ceremony’s conclusion, interfaith clergy members, including Father Frank Mann of Brooklyn, New York, delivered a blessing.
Church leaders in U.S., Mexico urge support for migrants
By David Agren | OSV News

Margelis Tinoco, a migrant from Colombia, reacted after receiving news that her U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s smartphone application CBP One was cancelled at the Paso del Norte International border bridge in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Jan. 20.
BUENOS AIRES — Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago reassured migrants in his archdiocese that reports of a possible mass deportation by a new administration in Washington that would target the Chicago area “wound us deeply.”
Priests in Chicago’s St. Rita of Cascia Parish in the city’s Chicago Lawn neighborhood stood in solidarity with local immigrants, inviting them for a special Mass in their intention Jan. 19.
“It is really important to be present to let people know, we will be there wherever we can to support them,” Father Larry Dowling told ABC 7 Eyewitness News.
Right after Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony as the 47th president Jan. 20, his administration ended use of a border app called CBP One. A note appeared instead on the app’s website: “Effective January 20, 2025, the functionalities of CBP One™ that previously allowed undocumented aliens to submit advance information and schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer available, and existing appointments have been cancelled.”
A coalition of advocacy groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Jan. 20 challenging President Donald Trump’s Day 1 executive order seeking to change the interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which grants birthright citizenship.
Catholic immigration advocates praised the challenge to that order, with some expressing concern about Trump’s immigration actions more broadly.
The 14th Amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” but Trump told reporters in the Oval Office “we’re the only country in the world that does this.” Trump’s order was quickly challenged in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU.
Cardinal Cupich is among Church leaders in Mexico and the U.S. who support migrants threatened by deportation and are urging a readiness to receive them.
Pope Francis, meanwhile, described Trump’s deportation plan in a Jan. 19 Italian television interview as “a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill” for U.S. problems.
“While we wish the new administration success in promoting the common good, the reports being circulated of planned mass deportations targeting the Chicago area are not only profoundly disturbing but also wound us deeply. We are proud of our legacy of immigration that continues in our day to renew the city we love,” Cardinal Cupich said in his Jan. 19 remarks at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, where he was participating in a pilgrimage.
“The Catholic community stands with the people of Chicago in speaking out in defense of the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers. Similarly, if the reports are true, it should be known that we would oppose any plan that includes a mass deportation of U.S. citizens born of undocumented parents,” he continued.
“For members of faith communities, the threatened mass deportations also leave us with the searing question, ‘What is God telling us in this moment?’ People of faith are called to speak for the rights of others and to remind society of its obligation to care for those in need. If the indiscriminate mass deportation being reported were to be carried out, this would be an affront to the dignity of all people and communities, and deny the legacy of what it means to be an American.”
Besides scrapping the CBP One smartphone application, the new president signed a series of executive orders related to the border on his first day in office.
More than 11 million migrants live in the United States illegally, according to Pew Research Center. An estimated 4 million of the migrants originally hail from Mexico. Border cities are expecting to receive returnees, despite public security problems such as drug cartels targeting migrants for kidnap and extortion.
The Trump administration said Jan. 21 it would rescind a long-standing policy preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests at what are seen as sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals.
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, said in a Jan. 21 statement the policy change is one of “many drastic actions from the federal government related to immigration that deeply affect our local community and raise urgent moral and human concerns.”
“The end of the Department of Homeland Security’s sensitive locations policy strikes fear into the heart of our community, cynically layering a blanket of anxiety on families when they are worshiping God, seeking healthcare and dropping off and picking up children at school,” Bishop Seitz said.
The Mexican bishops’ conference’s human mobility ministry has called for generosity from dioceses, parishes, religious orders and schools in receiving returned migrants.
“Let us put ourselves in the place of our migrant brothers and sisters and those who are deported; at the time of suffering the separation from their families, the uprooting and the collapse of years of sacrifices, work and dreams, they experience enormous pain, profound fear and terrible uncertainty,” read the Jan. 16 statement, signed by Bishop Eugenio Lira Rugarcía of Matamoros, director of the human mobility ministry, and Auxiliary Bishop Héctor Mario Pérez Villarreal of Mexico City, secretary-general of the conference.
“Let us pray for them and offer them the material support they need, while at the same time trying to integrate them into the community.”
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second, nonconsecutive term in the White House Jan. 20, becoming the nation’s 47th president four years after he left office … Donald Trump sworn in as 47th president
Subscribe to Read All St. Louis Review Stories
All readers receive 5 stories to read free per month. After that, readers will need to be logged in.
If you are currently receive the St. Louis Review at your home or office, please send your name and address (and subscriber id if you know it) to subscriptions@stlouisreview.com to get your login information.
If you are not currently a subscriber to the St. Louis Review, please contact subscriptions@stlouisreview.com for information on how to subscribe.