Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee said a recent meeting of 12 bishops with President Donald Trump was “manipulated” by the White House into a “political photo op” and apologized for any harm caused by the meeting.
Grob today released a statement on the archdiocese’s website, explaining his reasons for his involvement in the controversial Oct. 22 meeting at the White House, expressing his “sincere regrets” and saying, “I apologize for any harm my actions have caused.” Grob’s statement comes a day after another meeting participant, Denver Archbishop James Golka, said in an interview with the Denver Catholic that the meeting was not intended to be a political endorsement.
According to Grob, the White House meeting, hosted by the Trump-aligned Heritage Foundation, was supposed to be private. He said he was present because he believed it would be a valuable opportunity to meet with Catholic members of the administration to “discuss issues important to the Church and our people, including immigration enforcement, religious worker visas and human dignity.”
Following that meeting, Grob said, the bishops were moved to the Oval Office, where they were greeted by Trump and then “asked to stand behind him and pray.”
Although the bishops knew photos had been taken during their prayer with Trump, they were not asked for permission to share the photos nor did they know a video had been taken, Grob said.
“Unbeknownst to the group of bishops, a video was also filmed,” he added. “But authorization for public broadcast or publication of the video or photos was not given by the bishops”
“I feel profound sadness, not only because of the pain I have caused, but also that something so sacred to a group of religious leaders, prayer to Heavenly Father, has been manipulated in this way,” Grob said.
Grob, who earlier this year co-signed a statement with other Wisconsin bishops criticizing the Trump administration’s mistreatment of immigrants, said he wishes he had given more attention to the “reservations” he felt about the meeting.
“We came in good faith to try to work for the well-being of our fellow men, to alleviate their suffering, to build the common good and to pray with a president, not to pose for a political photo op for the benefit of a few,” Grob said. “The White House should never have put us in this position. I didn’t go in without reservations. I would have liked to take that into account.”
Another meeting attendee, Bishop William Joensen of Des Moines, also issued a statement Oct. 25, saying he had hoped the meeting would give the bishops an opportunity to offer their views on “the many things related to this current administration that are blatantly at odds with our Catholic faith.”
Although the bishops were aware that the meeting with Trump took place “on the eve of a national election,” he nevertheless believed that the White House had “exploited” the meeting for “partisan political purposes.”
After the meeting, the White House told NCR, “There has never been a greater president to Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it.” »
According to Golka and Grob, the prayer was a brief part of a three-hour meeting with the White House religious office — a follow-up to an earlier meeting last June. The bishops were informed that there would be an opportunity to pray with the president, and Golka and Grob both expressed their position that private prayer with a political leader was well within their pastoral purview as priests.
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