Two US Bishops Regret Oval Office Prayer, Accusing White House of a Stunt
Seven Lights
Two American Catholic bishops said they regretted joining President Trump for a prayer in the Oval Office, accusing the White House of converting a private devotional moment into campaign imagery one week before the midterm elections of November 3.
Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee and Bishop William Joensen of Des Moines were among 12 bishops invited to meet administration officials on Thursday. The White House promptly posted photographs and video to social media, with captions that the bishops said made the encounter appear to be a political event.
In a statement titled “A Public Apology,” Archbishop Grob said he felt “a heavy sadness” after people concluded he had participated in a political event on the eve of a national vote. “We should have never been placed in this position by the White House,” he wrote. He said he had misgivings about the meeting before it took place: “I wish I had listened to them.”
Bishop Joensen said “many things that are part of this current administration are … blatantly contrary to our Catholic faith.” He said neither bishop had been unaware of the meeting’s proximity to the election, and that neither had intended to endorse a party or candidate. “I wish I had been more shrewd and less simple, like those who exploited our meeting for partisan political purposes,” he wrote.
Archbishop Grob said the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank behind the Project 2025 blueprint for a second Trump administration, had arranged the meeting. The bishops were told it would be a private discussion of immigration enforcement, religious-worker visas and human dignity, with a possible chance to pray privately with the president, he said. After 90 minutes with domestic policy staff, they were ushered into the Oval Office, handed commemorative tokens and directed to stand behind the president’s desk and pray. Nobody told them a video was being recorded, Archbishop Grob said, and they never agreed to its release. Bishop Joensen said officials connected to the White House Faith Office had invited him, with an agenda that also covered fertility treatment incentives, abortion-inducing drugs and tax credits for private schools.
Asked whether the White House had obtained the bishops’ consent to release the photos and video, the press office declined to answer. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said: “There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it.”
Archbishop James Golka of Denver, another participant, told his archdiocese’s publication that he understood why many saw the video as an endorsement but that it was “never my intention.” He said he was “heartbroken that people are hurt.” The episode came with control of Congress at stake in the November 3 midterms.