Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob said the White House released photos and a video of him and other Catholic bishops praying with President Donald Trump without the participants’ consent. The White House press office did not answer whether it had received consent to release the material. Grob said the Thursday meeting was attended by him and 11 other bishops and took place less than two weeks before the midterm elections.

When asked whether the White House had or hadn’t received the bishop’s consent for releasing the photos and video, the press office declined to answer. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers instead said, “There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it.”

The White House invitation to the bishops, extended in September, offered discussion of immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, abortion and use of federal tax credits to support private education, according to Joensen and Grob. 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 an opportunity to pray privately with Trump.

Grob wrote, “The meeting was in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party.” He said, “It did not take long thereafter for the White House to post a video and photos of the prayer.”

Des Moines, Iowa, Bishop William Joensen separately said the White House had taken advantage of the bishops. He wrote, “I wish I had been more shrewd and less simple, like those who exploited our meeting for partisan political purpose.” Joensen also said, “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.”

In a statement titled “A Public Apology,” Grob said Sunday that he had received many questions and comments, some of them distraught, about the meeting. He said the White House quickly publicized the material without consent. Grob said, “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 he soon began receiving messages of serious concern about the possibility that he had inadvertently participated in a political event less than two weeks before a national election. He also heard from some people who felt wounded because of the ways they or their families had been harmed by Trump’s policies. “I did not go without reservations. I wish I had heeded them,” Grob said. “I apologize for any damage my actions have done.”

Broader views within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were not uniform. Minnesota-based Bishop Robert Barron agreed to serve on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, which was filled almost entirely with conservative Christians. Some other bishops denounced aspects of Trump’s immigration enforcement stance, saying it ran counter to Catholic teaching.

Grob disputed the White House’s publication of the photos and video and said the material had been released without the participants’ consent. The press office did not say whether it had obtained consent.