Home · Faith · Oct 28 archive

Catholic Bishops Apologize for Prayer Photo with Trump

5:23 PM ETConfirmed

Faith Desk

In Short: I apologize for any damage my actions have done,' Grob wrote, adding, 'I pray I am more prudent and wise going forward, even as I remain resolute in my openness to engaging and praying for political leaders at all levels.

Grob said in a statement that he had received many comments, some distraught, about the meeting, which took place on October 22, less than two weeks before the midterm elections.

'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,' Grob said.

The bishops were told the meeting would be a private discussion with several Catholic members of the cabinet, and that there could be an opportunity to pray privately with the president.

However, Grob said it did not take long for the White House to post a video and photos of the prayer session.

The White House invited the bishops in September to discuss issues such as immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, abortion, and the use of federal tax credits to support private education.

Grob emphasized that the meeting was not an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party.

I apologize for any damage my actions have done,' Grob wrote, adding, 'I pray I am more prudent and wise going forward, even as I remain resolute in my openness to engaging and praying for political leaders at all levels.

White House Faith Director Jenny Korn told EWTN News that the meeting was organized by the White House Faith Office as part of their ongoing engagement with faith leaders of all denominations.

Korn said several topics were discussed during the meeting, including religious freedom, the role of the White House Faith Office, school choice, religious visas, and life policy.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said the meeting was not organized with or by the conference.

The bishops' regret underscores the tension between the sacred nature of prayer and its potential use for political purposes.

Grob's apology reflects the Catholic Church's emphasis on the sanctity of prayer and the importance of avoiding its manipulation for political gain.

Background

What's confirmed

• Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, in what he called “A Public Apology,” said he had received many comments — some of them distraught — about the meeting Thursday which he and 11 other bishops attended.
• “I soon began receiving messages of serious concern over the possibility that I had inadvertently participated in a political event less than two weeks before a national election,” he added.
• “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," Grob said.
• “The meeting was in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party,” wrote Grob.
• The White House invitation to the bishops — extended in September — offered discussion about such issues as immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, abortion and use of federal tax credits to support private education, according to Joensen and Grob.
• Two Catholic bishops have expressed regret that they agreed to a White House meeting that produced a publicly distributed photo of them praying with President Donald Trump.
• “I apologize for any damage my actions have done."
• “It did not take long thereafter for the White House to post a video and photos of the prayer,” Grob said.
• “There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it."
• “I wish I had been more shrewd and less simple, like those who exploited our meeting for partisan political purpose,” he wrote.
• “We have had 62 deaths: 62 Catholic and Orthodox Christians who have died in this war,” the parish priest said.

What's still developing

• According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 894, bishops exercise their pastoral governance through their “counsels, exhortations, and example” alongside the sacred authority entrusted to them for the spiritual edification of the faithful.
• Archbishop Jeffrey Grob said in a public letter that the bishops never gave permission for photos and video of their Oval Office meeting to be publicly distributed.
• Learn more October 23, 2026 Share on Bluesky Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email to a friend Print The White House has identified the 12 Catholic bishops who met and prayed with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Oct. 22, while defending his record with Catholic Americans amid questions about the gathering's political implications less than two weeks before the midterm elections.
• Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, called for support as he said recent immigration enforcement in the state has left some Catholic families afraid to attend church or school.
• “We might ask ourselves, ‘What would the blessed archbishop think today about our turbulent times?’ But that’s not the right way to ask the question,” said Bishop Robert M.
• US Catholics, like other Americans, are preparing to vote in the midterm elections in November.
• VATICAN CITY (OSV News) – One week after Pope Leo XIV first revealed to the world that he would be undergoing lung surgery, the pope returned to the window of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace Oct. 18, thanking Catholics worldwide for their prayers five days after undergoing lung cancer surgery.
• (OSV News) -- The pastor of Gaza's only Catholic parish revealed that Pope Leo XIV sent a personal condolence message following an Israeli missile strike that killed five people, including a Christian mother and daughter.
• CathNews, the most frequently visited Catholic website in Australia, is your daily news service featuring Catholics and Catholicism from home and around the world, Mass on Demand and on line, prayer, meditation, reflections, opinion, and reviews.
• VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV urged Catholic bishops to accompany families facing “limits, wounds and apparent failure,” continuing the pastoral approach of his predecessor, Pope Francis, as he addressed a Vatican gathering marking the 10th anniversary of “Amoris Laetitia,” the late pontiff’s teaching document on marriage and family.
• The document generated significant debate after its publication because it opened the possibility, in certain cases, for some divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist.

Sources

• Bozeman Daily Chroniclelink
• Catholic World Reportlink
• Charisma Magazine Onlinelink
• Ewtnnewslink
• MS NOWlink
• National Catholic Registerlink
• National Catholic Reporterlink
• PBSlink
• The Christian Centurylink
• Ewtnnewslink
• Americamagazinelink
• OSV Newslink
• Aleteialink
• Cathstanlink
• Thecatholictelegraphlink
• Detroitcatholiclink
• Religiverse — video link