Catholic bishops who met with U.S. President Donald Trump last week have accused the White House of using their prayer in the Oval Office for political purposes without their consent. Some of the prelates have apologized to the faithful for taking part in the event.
As The New York Times and other outlets report, the controversy was sparked by a short video the White House posted of Trump’s meeting with the bishops at the White House. In it, they pray together for the country and for a blessing on the president, while one of the prelates rests a hand on the shoulder of the president, who is seated at his desk. The video was later used by, among others, Trump’s campaign committee, with the caption “RELIGIOUS FRIDAYS: This White House prays together.”
On Sunday, Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, one of the 11 bishops who took part in the meeting, issued a public apology, stressing that the prayer was not an expression of his support for the president.
Responding to the criticism he faced, the archbishop wrote that the meeting and the prayer with the president were meant to be private, and that the bishops had not given permission for the video to be posted. The meeting was meant to focus on “matters important to the Church, including immigration enforcement, visas for religious workers and human dignity.”
Several other bishops criticized the White House in a similar way. Denver Archbishop James Golka, who led the prayer, said that although he was aware the White House might use the meeting politically, he decided to take part because it was an opportunity to raise issues important to the Church.
Des Moines Bishop William Joensen, for his part, wrote that he regrets not having been “more cunning and less straightforward, like those who used the meeting for partisan and political purposes.”
Commenting on the matter, presidential spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement that “there has never been a better president for American Catholics than President Trump,” pointing, among other things, to the Supreme Court’s curtailing of abortion rights.
She added that the president pardoned anti-abortion activists, “proudly defended and expanded religious rights” and “stopped the federal government from being used against Christians.”
Since the start of Trump’s second term, Catholic Church leaders both in the U.S. and at the Vatican have repeatedly criticized the administration’s actions, particularly its approach to immigrants, including immigration enforcement operations around churches.
Vice President J.D. Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult, has suggested that the bishops are motivated by financial interests, in part because Catholic organizations receive grants to assist refugees.
From Washington, Oskar Górzyński (PAP)
