Updated on: October 26, 2026 / 3:57 PM EDT / CBS/AP

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Two Catholic bishops have expressed regret about agreeing to a White House meeting that produced a publicly distributed photo of them praying with President Trump.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, in a statement titled "A Public Apology," said Sunday that he had received many questions and comments — some of them distraught — about the meeting on Thursday that he and 11 other bishops attended.

He said the meeting was speedily publicized by the White House with photos and a video without consent of the participants, less than two weeks away from the midterm elections .

"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," Grob said.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob in an undated photo.…