两位在椭圆形办公室与唐纳德·特朗普一同低头祈祷的天主教主教如今表示后悔，指责白宫将一次私人祈祷变成了下周美国大选前的竞选拍照机会。
Two Catholic bishops who bowed their heads with Donald Trump in the Oval Office now say they regret it, accusing the White House of turning a private prayer into a campaign photo opportunity before next week’s US elections.
密尔沃基总主教杰弗里·格罗布和得梅因主教威廉·乔恩森曾是上周四与政府官员会面的12位主教之一，两人在周末分别发表声明表达遗憾。
Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee and bishop William Joensen of Des Moines, who were among the 12 bishops who met administration officials last Thursday, issued separate statements of regret over the weekend.
事态的发展源于白宫迅速在社交媒体上发布了祈祷的视频和照片，配文称“天主教总主教和主教与美国总统祈祷”，距离11月3日的中期选举不足两周。
The fallout stems from the White House quickly posting video and photos of the prayer on social media, captioned as Catholic archbishops and bishops praying with the US president, less than two weeks before the midterm elections on 3 November.
格罗布总主教发表了一份标题为《公开道歉》的声明，他在声明中说，因这些图像造成的伤痛，他感到“沉重的悲伤”，并表示他听到了一些人的声音，他们惊恐地发现他无意中在全国大选前夕参加了一个政治活动。
Archbishop Grob issued a statement headlined A Public Apology, in which he said he felt “a heavy sadness” over the pain the images had caused, and that he had heard from people alarmed that he had unwittingly joined a political event on the eve of a national vote.
他说，其他人因特朗普政策对其家庭的影响而感到受伤。“我们本不该被白宫置于那个位置，”格罗布写道，并补充说他曾心存顾虑，“真希望我当时听从了那些顾虑”。
Others, he said, were hurt because of the effect of Trump’s policies on their families. “We should never have been put in that position by the White House,” wrote Grob, adding that he had harbored reservations and “wish I had heeded them”.
乔恩森主教写道，“与现任政府相关的许多事情”“公然违背我们的天主教信仰”。
Bishop Joensen wrote that “many things tied to this present Administration” were “blatantly at odds with our Catholic faith”.
他说，没有一位主教不知道会面临近选举，但坚称没有人意图背书某个政党或候选人。“我希望我当时更精明一些，不那么天真，就像那些利用我们的会面达到党派政治目的的人一样。”格罗布表示，保守派智库遗产基金会——即为第二个特朗普政府制定“2025年计划”右翼蓝图的机构——安排了此次会面。他说，主教们被告知这将是一次关于移民执法、宗教工作者签证和人类尊严的私人讨论，并有可能获得一个与总统私下祈祷的机会。
He said none of the bishops was unaware the meeting fell close to an election, but insisted that none had intended to endorse a party or candidate. “I wish I had been more shrewd and less simple, like those who exploited our meeting for partisan political purposes.”Grob said the Heritage Foundation, the conservative thinktank behind the Project 2025 rightwing blueprint for the second Trump administration, arranged the meeting. The bishops, he said, were told it would be a private discussion of immigration enforcement, religious-worker visas and human dignity, with a possible chance to pray privately with the president.
与国内政策工作人员会晤 90 分钟后，他们被带进椭圆办公室，获赠纪念品，并按格罗布的描述，被要求站在特朗普办公桌后祈祷。他说，没人告诉他们正在录制视频，他们也从未同意发布该视频。
After 90 minutes with domestic policy staff, they were ushered into the Oval Office, handed commemorative tokens and, Grob detailed, directed to stand behind Trump’s desk and pray. Nobody told them a video was being recorded, he said, and they never agreed to its release.
约恩森表示，与白宫信仰办公室有关联的官员邀请了他，议程还涵盖生育治疗激励措施、堕胎诱导药物以及私立学校税收抵免。
Joensen said officials connected to the White House Faith Office invited him, and that the agenda also covered fertility treatment incentives, abortion-inducing drugs and tax credits for private schools.
丹佛总主教詹姆斯·戈尔卡是另一位与会者，他对所属教区的出版物表示，他理解为何许多人将该视频视为背书，但那“绝非我的初衷”。“看到人们受到伤害，且有人故意利用这一时刻制造分裂，我感到心碎，”他说。
Archbishop James Golka of Denver, another participant, told his archdiocese’s publication that he understood why many saw the video as an endorsement but that it was “never my intention”. “I’m heartbroken that people are hurt, and that there are people intentionally using this moment to sow disunity,” he said.
拉皮德城主教斯科特·布洛克对《国家天主教报道》表示，传统基金会的一名代表邀请了他，美国天主教主教会议“对此次会议并非不知情”。他未透露领导层中谁知情。
Bishop Scott Bullock of Rapid City told the National Catholic Reporter that a Heritage Foundation representative had invited him and that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops was “not unaware” of the meeting. He did not say who in the leadership knew.
特朗普在第二任期内将基督教祈祷与政府机器融为一体，于 2025 年 2 月签署行政令设立白宫信仰办公室，同月又成立由司法部牵头的特别工作组，旨在“根除联邦机构中的反基督教偏见”。
Trump has spent his second term fusing Christian prayers with the machinery of government, creating a White House Faith Office by executive order in February 2025 and, the same month, a justice department-led taskforce to “eradicate anti-Christian bias” in federal agencies.
总统在 4 月因在其 Truth Social 平台发布一张 AI 生成的图片而遭批评，图中他被描绘成类似耶稣的形象。他随后删除了该帖子，并辩称这“本意是描绘我作为一名医生让人们变得更好”。
The president faced criticism in April for posting an AI-generated image on his Truth Social platform depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure. He later deleted the post, and claimed it was “supposed to be me as a doctor making people better”.
在五角大楼，美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯举办过基督教崇拜仪式（据美联社报道，主持者均为福音派人士），并于 3 月为伊朗战争中“对那些不配得怜悯的人施以压倒性暴力”祈祷。
At the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, has held Christian worship services (which the Associated Press reports have been led only by evangelicals) and in March prayed for “overwhelming violence” against “those who deserve no mercy” in the Iran war.
当圣公会主教玛丽安·巴德在他的就职祈祷仪式上敦促他对移民和LGBTQ+群体展现怜悯时，特朗普要求她和她的教会道歉，而她反过来拒绝了。
And when the Episcopal bishop Mariann Budde urged him at his inauguration prayer service to show mercy toward migrants and LGBTQ+ people, Trump demanded that she and her church apologize, which she in turn rejected.
俄克拉荷马城总主教保罗·库克利是美国天主教主教会议主席，他在投票前敦促天主教徒将信仰置于政治之上。主教们将于11月在巴尔的摩举行年度秋季会议，大约在大选后两周。
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, has urged Catholics to put faith ahead of politics before the vote. The bishops are due to hold their annual fall assembly in Baltimore in November, about two weeks after the election.
“我们一如既往，是朝圣的子民，”格罗布写道。“这也包括主教们。”他以“深表遗憾”结束了道歉信。
“We are, as ever, a pilgrim people,” Grob wrote. “And that includes bishops,”. He ended his apology with “sincere regret”.