{"id":17975,"date":"2026-10-26T10:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T02:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975"},"modified":"2026-10-26T10:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T02:51:24","slug":"catholic-bishops-regret-white-house-prayer-photo-with-trump-say-it-was-used-politically","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975","title":{"rendered":"Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-24.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17976\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-24.jpg 768w, https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-24-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two Catholic bishops have expressed regret about agreeing to a White House meeting that produced a publicly distributed photo of them praying with President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.archmil.org\/posts\/a-public-apology-archbishop-jeffrey-grob\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>&nbsp;titled \u201cA Public Apology,\u201d said Sunday that he had received many questions and comments \u2014 some of them distraught \u2014 about the meeting on Thursday which he and 11 other bishops attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the meeting was speedily publicized by the White House with photos and a video, without consent of the participants, and less than two weeks away from the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">midterm elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI 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,&#8221; Grob said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bishop of Des Moines, Iowa, William Joensen, also issued a statement making clear he felt the White House had taken advantage of the bishops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI wish I had been more shrewd and less simple, like those who exploited our meeting for partisan political purpose,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked whether the White House had or hadn&#8217;t received the bishop&#8217;s consent for releasing the photos and video, the press office declined to answer that question. Instead, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers replied, \u201cThere has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The White House invitation to the bishops \u2014 extended in September \u2014 offered discussion about such issues as immigration enforcement,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/religious-worker-visa-department-homeland-security-rule-7b6683431528042941a63f1d07add7b9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">religious worker visas<\/a>, abortion and use of federal tax credits to support private education, according to Joensen and Grob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe meeting was in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party,\u201d wrote Grob. \u201cWe were told the meeting was to 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 the president.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt did not take long thereafter for the White House to post a video and photos of the prayer,\u201d Grob said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI 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,\u201d he added. \u201cI also heard from some who felt wounded because of the ways they or their family had been harmed by the president\u2019s policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI did not go without reservations. I wish I had heeded them,\u201d Grob concluded. \u201cI apologize for any damage my actions have done.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Collectively, members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have diverse views on Trump and his administration&#8217;s policies. Minnesota-based Bishop Robert Barron, for example, agreed to serve on Trump&#8217;s Religious Liberty Commission, which was filled almost entirely with conservative Christians. Some other bishops vehemently denounced aspects of Trump&#8217;s tough stance on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/west-virginia-catholic-bishop-trump-immigration-cdd4554bde6fac45df2a0246e23c7d84\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">immigration enforcement<\/a>, saying it runs counter to Catholic teaching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two Catholic bishops have expressed regret about agreeing to a White House meeting that produced a publicly distributed photo of them praying with President Donald Trump. Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, in a&nbsp;statement&nbsp;titled \u201cA Public Apology,\u201d said Sunday that he had received many questions and comments \u2014 some of them distraught \u2014 about the meeting on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":17976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[4447,4446,4448],"class_list":["post-17975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-bishops","tag-catholic","tag-regret"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two Catholic bishops have expressed regret about agreeing to a White House meeting that produced a publicly distributed photo of them praying with President Donald Trump. Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, in a&nbsp;statement&nbsp;titled \u201cA Public Apology,\u201d said Sunday that he had received many questions and comments \u2014 some of them distraught \u2014 about the meeting on [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-26T02:51:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-26T02:51:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-24.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sddm0805\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/\",\"name\":\"LISTEN WORLD\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-24.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-24.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":512},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975\",\"name\":\"Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically - LISTEN WORLD\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-26T02:51:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-26T02:51:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/401cf16edf5abe8109bc4f81d40e2298\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/401cf16edf5abe8109bc4f81d40e2298\",\"name\":\"sddm0805\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b923aee309f3523e57a0208042f74bc6f6899d4ce27b86964e2e49bf87805ff1?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b923aee309f3523e57a0208042f74bc6f6899d4ce27b86964e2e49bf87805ff1?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"caption\":\"sddm0805\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?author=11\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically - LISTEN WORLD","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically - LISTEN WORLD","og_description":"Two Catholic bishops have expressed regret about agreeing to a White House meeting that produced a publicly distributed photo of them praying with President Donald Trump. Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, in a&nbsp;statement&nbsp;titled \u201cA Public Apology,\u201d said Sunday that he had received many questions and comments \u2014 some of them distraught \u2014 about the meeting on [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975","og_site_name":"LISTEN WORLD","article_published_time":"2026-10-26T02:51:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-26T02:51:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-24.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"sddm0805","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/","name":"LISTEN WORLD","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-24.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-24.jpg","width":768,"height":512},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975#webpage","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975","name":"Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically - LISTEN WORLD","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2026-10-26T02:51:17+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-26T02:51:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/401cf16edf5abe8109bc4f81d40e2298"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17975#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9875","item":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/401cf16edf5abe8109bc4f81d40e2298","name":"sddm0805","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b923aee309f3523e57a0208042f74bc6f6899d4ce27b86964e2e49bf87805ff1?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b923aee309f3523e57a0208042f74bc6f6899d4ce27b86964e2e49bf87805ff1?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","caption":"sddm0805"},"url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?author=11"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17977,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17975\/revisions\/17977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}