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Archive photo · 22 April 1981Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob Apologizes After White House Exploits Trump Prayer Photos
7 Other6 Western Mainstream3 Local Western2 Western AlternativePhoto: President (1981-1989: Reagan). White House Photographic Office. 1981-1989 / US federal government, Public domain · Cropped for layout
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Milwaukee Archbishop Grob and Des Moines Bishop Joensen apologized, saying the meeting was manipulated. Photos and video of bishops praying with Trump were released as a campaign photo op.
18 outlets told this the same way.
Apology Over Oval Office Photo
Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob apologized after President Donald Trump’s White House released photos and video of twelve Catholic bishops praying with him in the Oval Office, which Grob said were publicized “without the consent of the participants.” Grob said the meeting was “in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies or his party,” and he described his intention as a private gathering to address “matters of importance to the church and our people, including immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, and human dignity.”
Des Moines Bishop William Joensen said the White House “exploited our meeting for partisan political purposes,” and he said he wished he had been “more shrewd and less simple” about the risk of political use. The BBC reported that Grob believed the meeting was private and not “a political photo opportunity,” and it said the White House did not directly address questions when contacted.
Heritage Foundation, Faith Office
The White House invitation to the bishops, extended in September, offered discussion about immigration enforcement and religious worker visas, and it also included “the use of federal tax credits to support private education,” according to CBS News. Joensen said the meeting was arranged by officials with the White House Faith Office, and he described it as including “the exploitation of vulnerable poor persons.”
The Guardian said Grob accused the Heritage Foundation of arranging the meeting, and it reported that Grob said the bishops were told it would be a private discussion of immigration enforcement, religious-worker visas and human dignity. James Golka, Archbishop of Denver, defended his participation by telling Denver Catholic that “I knew some people might be upset” and that the event “could be “used for political purposes,” while insisting “That was never my intention.”
Election Timing and Fallout
The controversy intensified as the bishops’ prayer was posted by the White House less than two weeks before the midterm elections on 3 November, and the BBC said Grob began receiving messages of “serious concern” about the possibility of a political event “less than two weeks before a national election.” Grob said he had “received many questions and comments” about the October 22 meeting, and he described “a heavy sadness” that “something so sacred to a group of religious leaders, prayer to our Heavenly Father, would be manipulated in that way.”
Joensen said he prayed “to be more prudent and wiser from now on,” and he asserted that “none of the bishops present were unaware that the meeting took place on the eve of national elections.” The Guardian said the bishops were due to hold their annual fall assembly in Baltimore in November, about two weeks after the election, and it quoted Grob ending his apology with “sincere regret.”