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CNN Live Event/Special
The Funeral Of Vice President Dick Cheney. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired November 20, 2025 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:30:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding, deal graciously with Richard's family in their grief, surround them with thy love, that they may not be overwhelmed by their loss, but have confidence in thy goodness and strength to meet the days to come, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
CROWD: Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A reading from the prophet Isaiah. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted. But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
The word of the Lord.
CROWD: Praise be to God.
PHILIP PERRY, DICK CHENEY'S GRANDSON: Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
("ETERNAL FATHER, STRONG TO SAVE" PERFORMED BY THE U.S. NAVY BAND SEA CHANTERS)
[12:39:39]
SAMUEL CHENEY, DICK CHENEY'S GRANDSON: A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians. Rejoice, and the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
[12:40:05]
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice, and the God of peace will be with you.
The word of the Lord.
CROWD: Thanks be to God.
("IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL" PERFORMED BY THE CATHEDRAL CHOIR)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Matthew.
CROWD: Praise to you, oh Lord.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jesus said, you are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
The gospel of the Lord.
CROWD: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Please be seated.
[12:45:02]
We have heard this morning from those who knew Dick Cheney best, from those who loved him, who worked beside him, and who shared with him the blessings and the burdens of duty. Their words paint a portrait of a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. A statesman who shaped the course of this country and of the world. And so we gather in this sacred space to give God thanks for a life of purpose, a life of conviction, and a life of service.
Dick Cheney believed that serving one's country was both an obligation and a privilege. As we have heard, he was, among many other things, a man of duty. Across decades of leadership as a congressman, as Secretary of Defense, as Vice President, and so much more, he carried the weight of responsibility with quiet strength and resolve.
Through it all, his heart belonged to his family. In Lynne's 61 years of partnership and love, and in the lives of his daughters and grandchildren, Vice President Cheney found his greatest joy, as we have seen so evidently this morning. He relished his relationships with his grandchildren and the deep conversations he had with each of them.
Lynne, Mary, and Liz described him as a husband, father, and grandfather who was profoundly kind and patient and never too busy for his family. He was indeed a man of the American West, raised in the church, he often found God in the great blue skies and clear running streams of Wyoming.
And while he didn't speak about his faith very often, it was very private to him. Liz told me that at one point he said, "I often sought wisdom and guidance from God, and I can't imagine how anyone could face deep sadness without turning to God for comfort."
The scriptures remind us that greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. Public service, at its best, is one long act of laying down one's life for others. Dick Cheney understood that call. He gave of himself for the peace, for the safety, and for the freedom of the American people.
There is no good time to die. There is no good time to leave the ones we love or to have those we love leave us. But the good news of the Christian faith proclaims that because Christ has risen from the dead, death does not have the last word. Death is not the end. Death is only one more step in the journey.
In the final chapters of the New Testament, Jesus tells us that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the bracket around all of our lives. Christ is there at our beginning and Christ is there at our ending. And so, as St. Paul says, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.
Therefore, our hope this day lies in the Easter message that Jesus has risen from the dead and one day we will rise as well. This is our source of joy when we lose the ones we love. Because Christ has risen, we can never be lost to God or to one another.
So today, even as we mourn, we give thanks for a life of purpose, a life of faithfulness, a life lived in service to his country. We commend Richard Bruce Cheney to the mercy of God. May the Lord bless him and keep him now and always. Amen.
[12:50:00]
("IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL" PERFORMED BY THE CATHEDRAL CHOIR)
[12:56:53]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the assurance of eternal life given at baptism, let us proclaim our faith and say, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day, he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us pray to the Lord. Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord, grant, we beseech thee, to thy whole Church in paradise and on earth, thy light and thy peace.
CROWD: Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grant that all those who have been baptized into Christ's death and resurrection may die to sin and rise to newness of life, and that through the grave and gate of death we may pass with him to our joyful resurrection.
CROWD: Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grant to us who are still in our pilgrimage, and who walk as yet by faith, that thy Holy Spirit may lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days.
CROWD: Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grant to thy faithful people pardon and peace, that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind.
CROWD: Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grant to all who mourn a sure confidence in thy fatherly care, that, casting all their grief upon thee, they may know the consolation of thy life.
CROWD: Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grant us, with all who have died in the hope of the resurrection, to have our consummation and bliss in thine eternal and everlasting glory --
[13:00:00]
