This makes the second New York Catholic clergyman tapped to speak — following the news that the Archdiocese of New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan will also lead a prayer at the event.
Details from The Tablet:
It’s one of the most unlikely friendships you can imagine, and the way it came about is just as surreal. A retired Brooklyn priest and a president of the United States struck up a relationship because the clergyman took an interest in the president’s family gravesite.
Father Frank Mann and President Donald Trump have become so close that the Brooklyn-born priest has been invited to deliver the closing benediction at Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20 in Washington.
“It’s mind-boggling. I can’t believe it,” Father Mann said. He said he was recently contacted by an assistant to Trump and a member of the inaugural committee who asked him to deliver the blessing right after the inaugural address.
“Being asked to offer the closing benediction is such an indescribable honor,” Father Mann said. “It’s taken me longer than I thought to process having been chosen to be such a significant part of the inauguration’s moment in history.”
It all began a few years ago when Father Mann was walking through a Queens cemetery and came upon the gravesite of Trump’s parents and grandparents.
“It was slightly overgrown,” Father Mann recalled. “I thought this shouldn’t be. This is a historic site. So, I went and bought a weed whacker and some decorations and fixed up the plot. I took a photo and eventually sent it to President Trump.”
A few weeks passed, and Father Mann got a call out of the blue. It was Trump. He asked Father Mann why he was decorating the family grave. After he explained his interest, he said the president sounded amazed and told him they would have to get together the next time he was in New York.
