Two Catholic bishops who joined President Donald Trump for an Oval Office prayer expressed regret about its public presentation and partisan implications less than two weeks before U.S. midterm voting.
The Oct. 22 meeting brought 12 bishops together after an invitation Grob said he received in mid-September. In a statement from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Grob said the group discussed immigration enforcement, visas for religious workers and human dignity with White House domestic policy staff and advisers for about 90 minutes before praying with Trump.
Grob said organizers described the discussion as private and mentioned a possible private prayer with Trump. He said the bishops were positioned behind the president for the prayer and had not agreed to public distribution of photos or video. The White House posted images from the gathering on Oct. 22. In an Oct. 25 apology, Grob said his participation had caused concern and described the presentation as having been “manipulated in that way.”
The Associated Press reported that the White House press office did not answer when asked whether it had received the bishops’ consent to release the images.
Des Moines Bishop William Joensen wrote on Oct. 24 that the bishops had not intended to endorse a candidate or party. He said he wished he had been “more shrewd and less simple” about the possibility of partisan use. EWTN News reported that Joensen did not name who he believed had used the gathering for that purpose.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers defended Trump’s record with Catholic Americans, citing religious rights, pardons for anti-abortion activists and parental rights. “There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump,” Rogers said.
Accounts of who arranged the gathering differ. Grob credited the Heritage Foundation. White House Faith Director Jenny Korn told EWTN News that the White House Faith Office organized the meeting, while Heritage communications manager Marguerite Bowling told Religion News Service that the foundation did not organize it. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said it had not organized the gathering and was not affiliated with it, according to EWTN News and Religion News Service. Religion News Service noted a July 2017 Oval Office prayer gathering with evangelical leaders as a precedent. The U.S. midterm elections are scheduled for Nov. 3, 12 days after the bishops’ prayer.
