Melania's faith revealed: First Lady's Catholic connection
Melania and Donald Trump belong to different faiths, yet that did not stop them from jointly addressing Catholics on the occasion of Ash Wednesday. To which religious communities do the President and First Lady of the USA belong?
Discussions about Melania Trump's faith gained momentum in 2017 when she and her husband arrived at the Vatican. There, she met with Pope Francis and spoke with several high-ranking church hierarchs.
In the media, there was speculation about whether she was Catholic. After all, she was born in Slovenia, which in the 1970s was part of communist and secular Yugoslavia. A Slovenian cardinal dispelled doubts on this matter.
He stated that the First Lady of the USA asked Pope Francis to bless her rosary, and she found a moment away from the cameras to pray before a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Following the meeting between the American presidential couple and the Pope, speculation arose regarding Melania Trump's religious affiliation. According to an interview cited by Aleteia.org, it was confirmed that she is Catholic.
Melania Trump is the second First Lady in history who is Catholic. The first was Jacqueline Kennedy. On the other hand, Donald Trump, who as a Republican pays excellent attention to traditional values, was raised in a Protestant household.
There is no shortage of information online that his parents (Protestants) belonged to the Presbyterian Church, whose pastor was Norman Vincent Peale. This branch is characterized by an emphasis on active, representative leadership of the clergy.
The US leader only in 2020 confessed in a statement sent to Religion News Service that currently, he does not identify with any small community and is a Christian.
Melania and Donald Trump addressed Catholics
No one was surprised when the presidential couple, on the day marking the start of the Easter Lent, addressed a few words to Catholics. A note on the White House website assured them of their prayers.
This Ash Wednesday, we join in prayer with the tens of millions of American Catholics and other Christians beginning the holy season of Lent—a time of spiritual anticipation of the passion, death, and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. During the Lenten season, Christians spend 40 days and 40 nights praying, fasting, and giving alms to deepen our faith and strengthen our belief in the Gospel — they wrote.
