President Donald Trump has relied heavily on Catholic voters to win power in the White House, but now many Catholic leaders are turning on the president — including the one who presides over the region that includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“I wish to remind all the faithful of the Diocese of Palm Beach that the Catholic Church does not endorse or support any political candidate or political party,” wrote Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez on X on Monday. “The Catholic Church remains a nonpartisan community of faith, whose sacred mission is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in full communion with our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, and the College of Bishops.”
de Jesús Rodríguez added, “While the Church upholds its responsibility to proclaim moral principles and promote the dignity of every human person, it does not engage in partisan political activity. Any action or statement by a member of the Church that may be perceived as an endorsement of a political candidate or party must not be construed as representing the official position of the Catholic Church or the Diocese of Palm Beach.”
He concluded, “Such actions, when undertaken in the name of the Church, even in the form of ‘prayers’ or ‘blessings,’ are contrary to its nonpartisan mission and should be regarded solely as expressions of individual political preference.”
This is not Trump’s only recent row with Catholic leaders who claim he is trying to exploit their faith for his political gain.
“Two Catholic bishops have accused the White House of taking advantage of a meeting and prayer with President Donald Trump, saying the moment was ‘exploited’ or ‘manipulated’ less than two weeks before the midterm elections,” reported Newsweek’s Jordan King. “Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob and the Bishop of Des Moines, Iowa, William Joensen both issued statements after the White House distributed photos and video footage of them praying with the president during a meeting on Thursday which they attended, along with 10 other bishops.”
King continued, “The White House invitation to the bishops — extended in September — offered discussion about such issues as immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, abortion and use of federal tax credits to support private education, according to Joensen and Grob.”
The disapproval with Trump’s seeming attempts to appropriate Catholicism have reached the American west.
“James Golka, the archbishop of Denver — who laid hands on Trump during prayer, told the Denver Catholic newspaper that he was ‘heartbroken’ at how the meeting had been seen,” reported and Financial Times’ Amy Kazmin in Rome and James Politi in Washington. “‘I understand that many people saw the video posted by the administration 12 days before an election as an endorsement,’ he told the Financial Times. ‘That was never my intention.””
The White House told the Financial Times through spokeswoman Taylor Rogers, “There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it: he stopped the weaponization of the federal government against Christians, proudly defended and expanded our religious rights, pardoned pro-life activists, stopped the chemical mutilation of our nation’s children, and protected parents’ rights.”