Catholic bishops pray over Trump days before midterms

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VATICAN CITY (RNS) — With surveys showing declining support among Catholics for President Donald Trump and Republicans as a whole, 12 Catholic bishops offered the president an image of support this week.

On Oct. 22, twelve days before the midterms, several Catholic bishops prayed over Trump, extending their hands on him as he bowed his head in the Oval Office.

Archbishop James Golka, who was tapped by Pope Leo XIV to lead the Archdiocese of Denver in February, led the prayer thanking God for the nation, the government and the presidency.

“We lift up our president and ask your blessing upon him,” Golka said as the bishops laid hands on Trump, asking the Holy Spirit to “protect us against any influence of evil.”

Archbishop James R. Golka joined fellow Roman Catholic bishops in meeting with President Trump and led a prayer in the Oval Office, asking God’s blessing upon the president and our nation.

Read more: https://t.co/2KCnlwp7Sb

Video credit: Margo Martin https://t.co/BlrQDJjl4r

— Archdiocese of Denver (@ArchDenver) October 22, 2026

The gesture came at a politically sensitive moment. Historically, Catholic voters have supported Trump, selecting him on 52% of their ballots in 2016 and 55% in 2024, dipping to 49% in 2020, according to data from Pew Research.

Support among white Catholic voters has been even stronger, with about two-thirds voting for Trump in 2016 (64%), 2020 (68%) and 2024 (65%).

But a recent report from Pew found support for the president to be slipping. Half of white Catholic voters and 39% of Catholic voters overall said they planned to vote for the Republican candidate in their congressional district during the upcoming midterms. And according to PRRI’s American Values Survey, released Oct. 20, 61% of white Catholics said their opinion of Trump had changed mostly for the worse over the previous two years.

Videos of the bishops’ prayer began circulating Thursday afternoon on X, following posts by the Archdiocese of Denver and White House Communications Advisor Margo Martin. Austen Ivereigh, who wrote a biography on Pope Francis, called the event “sickening,” while Stephen Schneck, the president of Catholics for the Future, questioned whether the appearance followed the bishops’ own guidance on nonpartisanship. 

The U.S. Conference of Catholics Bishops, which has publicly opposed Trump’s governance of immigration and foreign policy issues, distanced itself from the White House meeting. “This is not something that the USCCB organized, and it’s not affiliated with the conference,” Chieko Noguchi, a USCCB spokesperson, told RNS.

Shortly before the White House meeting, the head of the USCCB, Archbishop Paul Coakley, urged Catholics to “put their faith before politics” and underlined the church’s role as a nonpartisan organization.

Golka is not known for his political leanings. He favored a pastoral approach during debates over banning Communion for pro-choice politicians and broadened outreach for migrants and the homeless in leading the histo…