Dear Most Reverend Grob;

Yesterday, a friend, John Glover, forwarded your letter to his diocese. In essence, this is a penitential letter, a mea culpa. Some will argue this is unnecessary. Afterall, in every prayer book, Jewish or Christian, and in every liturgy, prayers are said for those in political leadership and our country. There are others who will maintain that you have taken the appropriate step in addressing the concerns of those who believe the White House manipulated the bishops and what should have been a private moment.

Your defenders point to the Church’s teachings in The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2234, the Fourth Commandment “…enjoins us to honor all who for our good have received authority in society from God.” The Fourth Commandment reads, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.” They err in basing their argument on this paragraph. The correct Catechism Paragraph they should cite is 2240.

The Apostle exhorts us to offer prayers and thanksgiving for kings and all who exercise authority, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way.”

This supports the argument that you and the bishops were exercising your spiritual responsibility by praying for Trump.

But what does it mean to exercise political authority? The Catechism’s Paragraphs 2235 and 2236 address this question. These read:

2235 Those who exercise authority should do so as a service. “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant.” The exercise of authority is measured morally in terms of its divine origin, its reasonable nature and its specific object. No one can command or establish what is contrary to the dignity of persons and the natural law.

2236 The exercise of authority is meant to give outward expression to a just hierarchy of values in order to facilitate the exercise of freedom and responsibility by all. Those in authority should practice distributive justice wisely, taking account of the needs and contribution of each, with a view to harmony and peace. They should take care that the regulations and measures they adopt are not a source of temptation by setting personal interest against that of the community.

Personally, I unable to connect the Fourth Commandment to political power. I do agree with the Catechism articles on “Duties of civil authorities” (ibid. 2235-2237). To my mind, political authority and servanthood are connected.

You, the bishops, rabbinical leaders, and other clergy are correct when leading your congregants in prayer for those in political leadership. However, there is another responsibility. They must also raise their voices in prophetic dissent. Prophetic dissent is a call for justice—to speak out against racism, state violence, and poverty. Dissent is a moral responsibility. Dissent is both spiritual and civic responsibility. As stated in Paragraph 2242 of the Catechism:

2242 The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel. Refusing obedience to civil authorities, when their demands are contrary to those of an upright conscience, finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving the political community. “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” “We must obey God rather than men”

When citizens are under the oppression of a public authority which oversteps its competence, they should still not refuse to give or to do what is objectively demanded of them by the common good; but it is legitimate for them to defend their own rights and those of their fellow citizens against the abuse of this authority within the limits of the natural law and the Law of the Gospel.

You and other spiritual leaders should bear in mind Exodus 10:1: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him.”

The Church and the Synagogue have either been too silent, or not spoken loud enough on the moral crisis that the Trumpian Age has wrought. This is a failure of moral responsibility. Regretfully, this is also the failure of too many citizens.

In fairness to you, I am posting your letter so that others can have proper context for my response.

Very truly yours,

Charles van Heck

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I write this message to you from the Dominican Republic while visiting with fellow pilgrims our sharing parish, La Sagrada Familia.

Over the past several days, I have received many questions and comments about the October 22 meeting I and 11 other bishops attended at the White House, which was soon thereafter publicized by the administration without the consent of the participants. Please know that my intention was never to cause confusion, anger, or disappointment among the people entrusted to my care. My hope here is to provide some measure of context for my decision to participate.

To begin, the meeting was in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party. In mid-September, I was invited to join a group of a dozen bishops to discuss matters of importance to the Church and our people, including immigration enforcement, religious worker visas, and human dignity. The meeting was the second of two such gatherings arranged by the Heritage Foundation. The first, to which I was not invited, was held last June. We were told the meeting was to be a private discussion, that several Catholic members of the cabinet might make an appearance, and that there could be an opportunity to pray privately with the president.

I took some time to weigh the decision and ultimately felt that, if I had the opportunity to offer my voice in a way that might improve the lives of God’s children, I ought to take it. I pray for our elected officials on a daily basis, so it seemed appropriate to do so in person.

So, following a 90-minute discussion with White House domestic policy staff and advisors, we were eventually ushered into the Oval Office. The president greeted us, took a seat at his desk and presented us with commemorative tokens. We were then directed to stand behind him and pray. After which several photos were taken and we were ushered out. Unbeknownst to the group of bishops a video was also taken. But permission for the public distribution or posting of either the video or photos was not given by the bishops.

It did not take long thereafter for the White House to post a video and photos of the prayer. 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. I also heard from some who felt wounded because of the ways they or their family had been harmed by the president’s policies.

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. We came in good faith to try to work for the betterment of our fellow human beings, to ease their suffering, to build up the common good, and to pray with a president, not to pose for a political photo opportunity to benefit the few. We should never have been put in that position by the White House. I did not go without reservations. I wish I had heeded them. Please know that I have heard these concerns, understand how I caused them, and I apologize for any damage my actions have done.

We are, as ever, a pilgrim people. And that includes bishops.

With sincere regret,

Most Reverend Jeffrey S. Grob
Archbishop of Milwaukee

B’khvod Rav (with great respect)

Charles van Heck

The full statement is also online: https://www.archmil.org/posts/a-public-apology-archbishop-jeffrey-grob