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On Sunday, May 17, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the retired archbishop of New York, and Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, lent their voices to “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,” the Trump-backed prayer festival on the National Mall. Barron took the stage in person, while Dolan participated via a pre-recorded video.

The event was organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership with the White House.

The program featured Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard by video, alongside evangelist Franklin Graham, White House faith adviser Paula White-Cain, Eric Metaxas, and pastor Robert Jeffress. PBS reported in advance that the gathering had been criticized for promoting Christian nationalism.

Father Mike Schmitz, the Minnesota priest whose “Bible in a Year” podcast has built one of the largest Catholic audiences in America, was originally announced as a speaker. In early April, his team informed the White House he would be unable to attend. The lineup that emerged in his absence made clear why his judgment was sound.

Anyone tuning in expecting an ecumenical day of national prayer encountered something else: a stage built by Christians who have spent decades telling American Catholics their Church is a fraud.

Consider the two most visible of them.