Ivana Trump's funeral to be held in Catholic church

Washington D.C., Jul 19, 2022 / 16:40 pm

The funeral of Ivana Trump, the late ex-wife of former President Donald Trump, will be held at a Catholic church in New York City, according to various media reports. 

Trump was found dead at age 73 on July 14, after falling down the stairs of her Manhattan home. New York City's chief medical examiner ruled her death an accident. She had been suffering from hip pain before her death, the New York Post reported.

Trump’s memorial service will take place on Wednesday in Manhattan’s historic St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, located near her home on the Upper East Side. The parish office confirmed with CNA that Trump was Catholic, although would not comment on whether she was a regular Mass-goer. 

The Czech-American socialite and businesswoman did not reveal much about her faith life to the public. A 2017 profile from The New Yorker said, “Ivana was born in 1949 in what was then Czechoslovakia, to Catholic parents who refused to join the Communist Party.”

According to Christian Post, in 2011, President Trump told Christian Broadcasting Network that he is Presbyterian, noting, “I think religion is a wonderful thing. I think my religion is a wonderful religion.”

Though he said he is Presbyterian, he and his family attended Sunday services at Marble Collegiate Church in New York City for over 50 years. A New York Times article reported that President Trump was unsure whether he ever formally joined the denomination that Marble church is a part of, which is the Reformed Church in America.

In 1977 the Trumps were married in Marble Collegiate Church, in what was Donald Trump’s first marriage, and Ivana Trump’s second. The ceremony was officiated by the Protestant clergyman Norman Vincent Peale, author of the best-selling book "The Power of Positive Thinking."

The Trumps had three children during their marriage: Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric.

“Ivana was raised (secretly) Catholic; in her person, however — and in the values she shares with her ex-husband, and proudly claims to have instilled in her children — swirls the exhaust of the Protestant ethic,” says a review from The Atlantic of Ivana’s 2017 memoir, “Raising Trump.”

The New York Post reports that the private funeral service for Trump will be a “Celebration of Life,” and guests are encouraged to donate to Big Dog Ranch Rescue in lieu of flowers.