Two Catholic Bishops Apologize for White House Prayer Meeting Photo With Trump

On Sunday, Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob published a statement under a plain title: "A Public Apology." It concerned a Thursday meeting at the White House, where he and 11 other bishops sat down with President Trump and prayed with him. Within a short time, the White House had posted photos and a video of that prayer.

Grob said he had since received many questions and comments, some of them from people in distress. He wrote that the White House publicized the meeting quickly and without the consent of the participants, less than two weeks before a national election. He described a heavy sadness, both over the pain he had caused and over the fact that something sacred to a group of religious leaders, prayer to the Heavenly Father, had been manipulated in that way.

The invitation had come in September. According to Grob and to Bishop William Joensen of Des Moines, Iowa, it offered discussion of immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, and the use of federal tax credits to support private education. Grob said the bishops were told the meeting would be a private discussion, that several Catholic members of the Cabinet might make an appearance, and that there could be a chance to pray privately with the president. He insisted it was in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party.

The reaction reached him fast. Grob said he began receiving messages of serious concern that he might have inadvertently taken part in a political event so close to the election. Others told him they felt wounded because they or their families had been harmed by the president's policies. He wrote that the bishops came in good faith to work for the good of others, ease suffering, build the common good and pray with a president, not to pose for a political photo opportunity benefiting a few. They should never have been put in that position by the White House, he said. He also acknowledged going with reservations: "I wish I had heeded them." He closed by saying he had heard the concerns, understood how he had caused them, and apologized for any damage.

Joensen issued his own statement, making clear that he too felt the White House had taken advantage of the bishops. He said he wished he had been more shrewd and less simple, unlike those who exploited the meeting for partisan political purposes. He prayed he would be more prudent and wise going forward, while remaining resolute in his openness to engaging and praying for political leaders at all levels.

Asked whether the White House had obtained the bishops' consent to release the photos and video, the press office declined to answer. Spokesperson Taylor Rogers instead said there has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than Trump, and that his strong record proves it.

The episode lands in a body of bishops that is far from uniform. Members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops hold diverse views on Trump and his administration. Bishop Robert Barron, based in Minnesota, agreed to serve on the president's Religious Liberty Commission, which was filled almost entirely with conservative Christians. Other bishops have vehemently denounced parts of the administration's tough approach to immigration enforcement, saying it runs counter to Catholic teaching.

What to watch now is whether other bishops who attended follow Grob and Joensen in speaking publicly, and how church leaders weigh future White House invitations in the final days before the election.