Catholic clergy, laypeople to gather for prayer at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
Tuesday, 18 March 2025 ()
Catholics for Catholics held its first event at Mar-a-Lago in 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of John Yep
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 18, 2025 / 08:45 am (CNA).
Nearly 100 members of the Catholic clergy are expected to be among those praying for President Donald Trump and the country during a Catholics for Catholics event at the president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday evening.
“The goal of this event is to pray — and to pray in a specifically Catholic way,” Catholics for Catholics President John Yep told CNA ahead of the group’s second annual Mar-a-Lago gathering. Founded in 2022, Catholics for Catholics describes itself as an organization "at the intersection of faith and politics" that aims to "change hearts and minds for Jesus Christ and His Church."
The March 19 event — which coincides with the solemnity of St. Joseph — will also feature various prominent Catholic speakers, including Bishop Joseph Strickland, Father Richard Heilman, pro-life activist Jean Marshall, detransitioner Nancy Charles, and Catholic commentator Taylor Marshall.
Jean Marshall is one of the 23 pro-life activists who were arrested under former President Joe Biden’s administration and subsequently pardoned by Trump. William Goodman and Father Dave Nix, both of whom were also arrested for their roles in pro-life protests, are not listed as speakers but will be brought on stage as well.
Other speakers include several political figures who are Catholic, including retired U.S. Army General Michael Flynn, veteran political consultant Roger Stone, and Human Events Editor Jack Posobiec.
Yep told CNA the speakers will discuss “how prayer has worked in their lives” and “how do you bring your Catholic faith to the public square,” among other things. He said the speakers are some of the “frontline warriors who are bringing prayer into real life.”
He said he wanted Catholics to gather in Mar-a-Lago because “the place where you pray is also very important,” adding: “We want to go to the home of the current president, President Donald Trump.”
“That home is very significant and we want to be there in person … to consecrate that place to Our Lady and to the protection of St. Joseph and to pray for the entire country,” he said.
Catholics for Catholics President John Yep. Credit: Photo courtesy of Catholics for Catholics
Holding the event on the solemnity of St. Joseph holds significance in several ways, according to Yep.
Yep noted Venerable Pius XII named St. Joseph the patron of the Church’s fight against atheistic communism in his 1937 encyclical Divini Redemptoris. Yep said “St. Joseph is a patron for these times” because of “the rise of atheistic marxism [that has been] happening in recent decades.”
Additionally, St. Joseph is the “patron of the universal Church, and we want to go to him for protection,” Yep added.
The presence of Catholic clergy is expected to be significantly larger than last year’s event, which only drew 10 members of the clergy. There will be nearly 10 times more members of the clergy present this year.
“This is the largest Catholic event in the history of Mar-a-Lago,” Yep said.
Catholics for Catholics intends to continue holding annual events on the solemnity of St. Joseph and will keep them at Mar-a-Lago for the time being.
*The Catholic vote and Trump’s agenda*
Trump made significant gains with the Catholic vote in the 2024 presidential election, particularly with Hispanic Catholics.
Yep said Trump’s message resonated with Catholic voters and Hispanic voters in the same way it resonated with other sectors of the American electorate, noting a desire for a “safe border” and “safety in their neighborhoods.”
Catholics for Catholics, Yep added, is also “grateful for the moral clarity on the two genders” and the end to “ridiculous lawfare against pro-lifers,” along with the restoration of “law and order that is coming back … in our communities” and “cleaning things up financially [regarding] some of this government waste.”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) praised Trump’s executive actions to combat gender ideology and recognize the existence of only two genders. However, the USCCB has sharply disagreed with the president on his mass deportation plan and efforts to strip federal funds from non-governmental organizations that provide assistance to migrants, including suing his administration over the latter matter.
When asked about the bishops’ criticism of Trump’s immigration policies, Yep noted that the Vatican recently increased penalties for illegal entry into Vatican City, which could be punished by up to four years in prison. Yep said if Trump follows the Vatican’s lead, “we’ll be in good shape as a country.”
Yep added that some of the speakers will also touch on the Catholic Church’s opposition to in vitro fertilization (IVF) — a fertility treatment that has been embraced by Trump. The Church is against IVF because it separates procreation from the conjugal act and results in the destruction of millions of human embryos.
Yep said there will be speakers who “present the science behind IVF” and said he “absolutely” sees room for Trump to shift on that issue. He said: “We have to be a witness to the fullness of the Catholic faith,” emphasizing the need to “continue to be there and present the fullness of that truth.”
*Some speakers critical of Francis*
Some of the speakers scheduled to appear at the event have been publicly critical of Pope Francis, who himself has sharply criticized some of Trump’s immigration and deportation plans during his second term in office.
Strickland was removed from his post in November 2023 amid his public criticism of Pope Francis. He remains a bishop but is not assigned to oversee any diocese.
Yep said Catholics for Catholics would “take any bishop” who wants to speak at the event, noting their importance as “successors of the apostles.” He added that he is “so grateful for [Strickland’s] voice, the voice of just truth and keeping the focus on Jesus Christ through this time.”
During the event, Yep said Catholics for Catholics will also “very much be praying for the Holy Father Pope Francis and his health” amid the pontiff’s long-term hospital stay this month.
|
||||
|
|
||||
You Might Like |
||||
