Catholic Leaders Feel ‘Manipulated’ and ‘Exploited’ After Trump’s Oval Office Photo Op

Catholic leaders who were photographed last week praying with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office said they felt “manipulated” and “exploited” by the way the meeting was publicized.

In a 30-second clip of the interaction, a group of bishops and archbishops stand over the president and pray following a policy meeting with Trump and White House staff.

But the clip was quickly blasted out on social media by Trump’s campaign account, with the caption: “Catholic Archbishops and Bishops gather in the Oval Office to pray with President @realDonaldTrump.”

The meeting was scheduled months ago by the White House Faith Office to discuss a range of policy matters including immigration, abortion and federal tax credits for private education, Bishop William Joensen of Des Moines wrote. It was not, he said, intended to be a political endorsement.

After speaking with the president, the bishops and archbishops were invited to pray with him, a relatively routine request of faith leaders of all denominations. It was the second of two meetings that the president has held with faith leaders, according to Denver Archbishop James Golka.

Golka told the Denver Catholic that while he thought the meeting was private, he always knew it could be made public.

“I understand that many people saw the video, posted by the administration 12 days before an election, as an endorsement,” Golka said. “That was never my intention.”

Joenson also put out a statement saying he regretted how the interaction was used by the White House without permission to signal Catholic leaders’ support for Trump.

“I wish I had been more shrewd and less simple, like those who exploited our meeting for partisan political purposes,” Joensen wrote. “I pray I am more prudent and wise going forward.”

A third Catholic leader to speak out following the meeting, Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, went further, writing a public apology on Sunday, saying the group had no idea that a video was taken, and the White House never asked for permission to publicly post videos and photos of the meeting.

“I 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,” Grob wrote.

In a statement to The Washington Sun, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers wrote that “there has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump.”

“His strong record proves it,” she said.