Bishops Express Regret Over Oval Office Pray With Trump Session

Two Catholic bishops said this week they regretted a White House meeting with President Donald Trump after photos of the gathering circulated online less than two weeks before the midterm elections.

The October 22 session at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office was arranged by officials with the White House Faith Office, according to Bishop William Joensen of Des Moines, Iowa. He said the agenda included immigration, visas for international clergy, and the "exploitation of vulnerable poor persons."

Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, who was also present, said he had understood the meeting to be private and not "a political photo opportunity." Grob said the bishops spent 90 minutes with officials before being ushered into the Oval Office to pray with Trump.

A video of the meeting was released by Margo Martin, a special assistant to the president and communications adviser who regularly posts behind-the-scenes footage of Trump. Grob said none of the participants authorized public release of the video or photos.

Grob said messages from congregants began arriving after the images appeared. "I 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," he wrote. He also heard from people who felt hurt by the effects of the president's policies on their families.

Joensen said the bishops did not intend to back a candidate or party. "I wish I had been more shrewd and less simple, like those who exploited our meeting for partisan political purposes," he said.

The White House did not answer questions about the meeting or the bishops' remarks. Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement that "there has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it."

A Pew Research Center survey this month found 30% of US Catholics approved of Trump's job performance, down from 47% when he returned to the White House in 2025. In the same survey, 42% of Catholics preferred Democratic candidates in local House races, while 39% favored Republicans. The midterms on November 3 will decide control of Congress.

Trump has had a tense relationship with Pope Leo XIV during his second term as the administration has moved to remove people believed to be in the country illegally. Nine days before the bishops' meeting, Bishop Brendon Cahill and Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, issued a statement urging "Christian compassion and wisdom in the immigration debate," writing that enforcement had led to "the sowing of fear, the fracturing of families, the deprivation of due process, and the vilification of our neighbors."

Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are both Catholics who have visited the Vatican during Trump's second term. Robert Barron of Minnesota and former New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan both joined the president's Religious Liberty Commission last year.