#USA #WI – The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Milwaukee Jeffrey S. Grob issued a public apology on Sunday for his participation in an Oct. 22 meeting at the White House in which a dozen Catholic bishops prayed over President Donald Trump, saying the administration had posted video and photographs of the moment without the bishops’ consent and turned a private gathering into a political photo opportunity.
In a statement posted from the Archbishop of Milwaukee, Grob wrote that he and the other bishops had been invited in mid-September to a private discussion on matters including immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, and human dignity. The session was arranged through the Heritage Foundation and was the second of two such meetings; the first had taken place in June. Participants were told the encounter would remain private and that there might be an opportunity to pray privately with the president, Grob said.
After roughly 90 minutes of discussion with White House domestic policy staff and advisers, the bishops were ushered into the Oval Office. Trump greeted them, sat at the Resolute Desk, and presented commemorative tokens. The bishops were then directed to stand behind him and pray. Denver Archbishop James R. Golka led the prayer, asking for God’s blessing on the president and the nation and invoking the Holy Spirit to protect the country from evil. Photographs were taken afterwards. Unbeknownst to the group, video was also recorded, Grob stated.
“Permission for the public distribution or posting of either the video or photos was not given by the bishops,” Grob wrote. The White House quickly posted the footage, which was also shared by the president’s campaign account. The images circulated widely less than two weeks before the midterm elections.
Grob said he had gone with reservations and wished he had heeded them. “I feel a heavy sadness, not only over the pain I caused, but also for the fact that something so sacred to a group of religious leaders, prayer to our Heavenly Father, would be manipulated in that way,” he wrote. “We came in good faith to try to work for the betterment of our fellow human beings… and to pray with a president, not to pose for a political photo opportunity to benefit the few. We should never have been put in that position by the White House.” He reiterated that the meeting “was in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party” and apologized for any confusion, anger, or disappointment caused to the people of his archdiocese.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had previously said it neither organized nor affiliated with the gathering. Archbishop Golka, who led the prayer, told the Denver Catholic that the encounter was not intended as a political endorsement and that he had known the meeting “could be shared and some might use it for political purposes.” He described his participation as an ordinary pastoral act of praying for civic leaders.
Bishop William M. Joensen of Des Moines, who also attended, issued a separate statement noting that the White House had “exploited” the gathering for partisan political purposes, even though the bishops were aware the meeting occurred near a national election.
The White House later identified the participants as including Golka, Grob, Archbishop Emeritus Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, and bishops from Dallas, Gallup, Birmingham, Baker, Oakland, Rapid City, Des Moines, and the Chaldean and Maronite eparchies. A White House official said the discussions covered religious freedom, school choice, and related topics. Trump told reporters the following day that the meeting had been “great” and that the bishops had “mostly prayed.”
The episode drew criticism from some Catholics and commentators who questioned the optics of the prayer so close to the midterms and noted the presence of Paula White-Cain, an adviser in the White House Faith Office. Grob’s apology marked the first public expression of regret from one of the participating bishops.
Cover Image: The viral image of numerous bishops with Paula White-Cain and President Trump.
