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, 12 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.”

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 historically conservative Diocese of Denver. Six months ago, Golka criticized Trump’s attacks on Leo over the war in Iran as “not acceptable.”

But the Colorado Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, also co-sponsored an Oct. 3 get-out-the-vote event with CatholicVote, a conservative advocacy group that endorsed Trump in 2024.

The Denver Archdiocese defended the prayer over Trump, declaring in a statement Thursday that “praying for those in public office is a longstanding Catholic practice.”

“It is not an endorsement of any specific candidate or party,” the statement added.

The White House identified many of the bishops, representing a broad range of political leanings, who prayed over Trump. Among them were Archbishop emeritus Joseph Naumann of Kansas City and Bishop James Wall of the southwestern U.S. Diocese of Gallup, who have been prominent voices condemning abortion and Communion for pro-choice politicians. Also participating were Bishop Michael Barber of Oakland, Bishop Edward Burns of Dallas and Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee, who have voiced their support for immigrants and refugees. Bishop Thomas Hennen, who was appointed by Pope Leo to lead the Diocese of Baker and who has supported outreach to LGBTQ Catholics, was there. Others like Golka who defy political labels, including Bishop William Joensen of Des Moines and Maronite Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of Los Angeles, were there as well.

The Catholic blog The Pillar reported that the event was organized by Mario Enzler, a former Swiss Guard who works at the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the hard-right political manifesto Project 2025. But Marguerite Bowling, Heritage’s senior communications manager for domestic policy, wrote this in an email to RNS: “Heritage didn’t organize this meeting. Mario Enzler was there, but he didn’t set anything up.” 

Also attending the event were the White House faith director, Jenny Korn, and Trump’s senior faith advisor, Paula White-Cain. Korn told EWTN that the meeting was part of the “ongoing engagement with faith leaders” and that the bishops and the president discussed “religious freedom, the role of the White House Faith Office, school choice, religious visas and life policy.” The Denver Archdiocese said family tax credits were also addressed.

Trump told reporters on Friday that it was “a great meeting” at which the bishops mostly prayed.

White was present at another controversial faith moment at the White House in July 2017, when evangelical leaders gathered around Trump to pray over him in a pose similar to the one captured on Thursday. Pentecostal pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, who was part of that gathering, told CBN that White had come up with the idea of praying over Trump.

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops did not reply to RNS requests for comment in time for publication.

Ashley McKinless is an executive editor at America and co-host of the ‘Jesuitical’ podcast.