BBC News reported the administration did not answer questions about the meeting
The White House did not directly address questions about the meeting at which President Donald Trump and 12 archbishops and bishops prayed in the Oval Office, BBC News reported. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement: “There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it.” Two of the bishops who took part in the meeting last week at the White House, Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee and Bishop William Joensen of Des Moines, Iowa, said afterward that officials turned what they had thought was a private prayer into a photo opportunity and that they regretted taking part.
Bishop William Joensen said he is frequently called upon to engage people whose positions and actions do not align with the Church’s teachings. “As a bishop, I am frequently called upon to engage people whose positions and actions are not aligned with the Church’s teachings,” he wrote. He said he regarded the invitation as “a distinct opportunity … to bring the Gospel and the Church’s teachings to bear on contemporary matters that impact people in our Diocese and beyond.”
Archbishop Jeffrey Grob said the bishops were invited to discuss “matters of importance to the Church and our people, including immigration enforcement, religious worker visas and human dignity.” After a 90-minute discussion with domestic policy staff and advisors, Grob said, the bishops were ushered into the Oval Office, where Trump gave them “commemorative tokens” and officials directed them to stand behind him and pray. They were then ushered out.
The White House released photos and video of the event on Thursday, in the Oval Office, showing the group of 12 archbishops and bishops gathered around Trump and praying a dozen days before the midterm elections Nov. 3.
Grob later released a public apology, saying he had believed the event was private and that it was publicized “without the consent of the participants.” He said that soon after the White House posted the photos and a video, he began to receive “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 said he also received messages from those “who felt wounded because of the ways they or their family had been harmed by the president’s policies.” Grob wrote that he felt “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 that the bishops came in good faith to try to work for “the betterment of our fellow human beings,” to ease their suffering, to build up the common good and to pray with a president, “not to pose for a political photo opportunity to benefit the few.”
Joensen, who also took part, echoed Grob’s words in his own statement. He said none of the bishops were unaware of the timing of the meeting, but that “in no way did any of us intend by our involvement to endorse any political party or any individual candidate.” He wrote: “I wish I had been more shrewd and less simple, like those who exploited our meeting for partisan political purposes.” He added: “I pray I am more prudent and wise going forward.”
Denver Archbishop James Golka, who also took part, said in his archdiocese’s publication that he did not intend his participation as an endorsement of Trump. “I’m heartbroken that people are hurt, and that there are people intentionally using this moment to sow disunity,” he said.
Grob said the bishops were invited to discuss immigration enforcement, religious worker visas and human dignity. His public apology said the meeting was in no way an endorsement of the president, his politics or his party; Joensen said no bishop intended by taking part to endorse any political party or any individual candidate; and Golka said he did not intend his participation as an endorsement of Trump. The White House has published the photographs and video of the Oval Office prayer but, BBC News reported, did not directly answer questions about the meeting or the bishops’ concerns after the outlet reached out to the administration.