Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church

During Christ’s Passion, Peter stood near the warmth of a charcoal fire and denied knowing Him.  Today, Jesus and Peter meet again near a charcoal fire.  Why? Gospel (Read Jn. 21:1-19) St. John tells us that an appearance of Jesus at the Sea of Tiberius (also called the Sea of Galilee) was “the third time […]

ENCOUNTERING THE WORD — YOUR DAILY BIBLE VERSES “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things which you have not known.” – Jeremiah 33:3 Please help spread the Gospel. Share this verse with family and friends on Facebook and other social media. We are grateful for your […]

The post Your Daily Bible Verses — Jeremiah 33:3 appeared first on Integrated Catholic Life™.

St. Athanasius was born around 296 AD in Alexandria, Egypt. Raised in a Christian family, he showed early signs of intellectual brilliance and deep faith. As a young deacon, he attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, where he helped defend the Church against the Arian heresy, which denied the full divinity of […]

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 1, 2025 / 18:23 pm (CNA).

In a party-line vote on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations advanced Brian Burch’s nomination for U.S. ambassador to the Holy See to the full Senate for final confirmation. 

All 12 Republicans on the Senate committee, chaired by Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, voted in favor of Burch, while all 10 of the committee’s Democrat members voted against him. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, now has to bring the nomination to the full Senate floor for a final vote. 

The action comes more than three weeks after Burch’s hearing before the committee, during which he fielded questions on foreign aid, the Vatican-China deal, and the Holy See’s role in securing a lasting peace in the Middle East. 

If confirmed by the full Senate, Burch, who is president of CatholicVote, will step down from his position at the organization, CatholicVote indicated.

During his hearing earlier this month, Burch emphasized his support for the Trump administration’s foreign spending cuts, which have had a widespread impact on Catholic aid organizations, saying: “I think the partnership with the Holy See can be a very good one, but I think those partners have to understand that our foreign aid is not endless, that we can’t fund every last program.”

On China, Burch said he intended to encourage the Vatican to apply pressure on the communist regime concerning its human rights abuses and reported violation of its deal with the Vatican regarding the appointment of bishops. 

“I would encourage the Holy See as the United States ambassador, if I’m confirmed, to resist the idea that a foreign government has any role whatsoever in choosing the leadership of a private religious institution,” he said.

Burch stated his intentions to support Vatican diplomacy to end the Israel-Hamas war, telling the committee he believed the Holy See “can play a significant role” by being “a partner in that conversation and [delivering] the necessary moral urgency of ending this conflict and hopefully securing a durable peace.”

President Donald Trump last December nominated Burch to serve as ambassador to the Vatican, writing in a Truth Social post that “he represented me well during the last election, having garnered more Catholic votes than any presidential candidate in history!” and adding: “Brian loves his Church and the United States — he will make us all proud.”

CatholicVote is a political advocacy group that endorsed Trump in January 2024 and ran advertisements in support of Trump during his campaign. The organization says it spent over $10 million on the 2024 elections.

Burch, who lives in the Chicago suburbs, is a graduate of the University of Dallas, a private Catholic school. In 2020, he wrote a book titled “A New Catholic Moment: Donald Trump and the Politics of the Common Good.” 

According to his biography on CatholicVote, Burch has received the Cardinal O’Connor Defender of the Faith Award from Legatus International and the St. Thomas More Award for Catholic Citizenship by Catholic Citizens of Illinois.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 1, 2025 / 18:23 pm (CNA).

In a party-line vote on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations advanced Brian Burch’s nomination for U.S. ambassador to the Holy See to the full Senate for final confirmation. 

All 12 Republicans on the Senate committee, chaired by Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, voted in favor of Burch, while all 10 of the committee’s Democrat members voted against him. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, now has to bring the nomination to the full Senate floor for a final vote. 

The action comes more than three weeks after Burch’s hearing before the committee, during which he fielded questions on foreign aid, the Vatican-China deal, and the Holy See’s role in securing a lasting peace in the Middle East. 

If confirmed by the full Senate, Burch, who is president of CatholicVote, will step down from his position at the organization, CatholicVote indicated.

During his hearing earlier this month, Burch emphasized his support for the Trump administration’s foreign spending cuts, which have had a widespread impact on Catholic aid organizations, saying: “I think the partnership with the Holy See can be a very good one, but I think those partners have to understand that our foreign aid is not endless, that we can’t fund every last program.”

On China, Burch said he intended to encourage the Vatican to apply pressure on the communist regime concerning its human rights abuses and reported violation of its deal with the Vatican regarding the appointment of bishops. 

“I would encourage the Holy See as the United States ambassador, if I’m confirmed, to resist the idea that a foreign government has any role whatsoever in choosing the leadership of a private religious institution,” he said.

Burch stated his intentions to support Vatican diplomacy to end the Israel-Hamas war, telling the committee he believed the Holy See “can play a significant role” by being “a partner in that conversation and [delivering] the necessary moral urgency of ending this conflict and hopefully securing a durable peace.”

President Donald Trump last December nominated Burch to serve as ambassador to the Vatican, writing in a Truth Social post that “he represented me well during the last election, having garnered more Catholic votes than any presidential candidate in history!” and adding: “Brian loves his Church and the United States — he will make us all proud.”

CatholicVote is a political advocacy group that endorsed Trump in January 2024 and ran advertisements in support of Trump during his campaign. The organization says it spent over $10 million on the 2024 elections.

Burch, who lives in the Chicago suburbs, is a graduate of the University of Dallas, a private Catholic school. In 2020, he wrote a book titled “A New Catholic Moment: Donald Trump and the Politics of the Common Good.” 

According to his biography on CatholicVote, Burch has received the Cardinal O’Connor Defender of the Faith Award from Legatus International and the St. Thomas More Award for Catholic Citizenship by Catholic Citizens of Illinois.

Vatican City, May 1, 2025 / 17:53 pm (CNA).

Editor’s Note: On May 1, 2025, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Francis, delivered the following homily during the sixth day of Novendiales Masses for Pope Francis. The text below is a CNA working translation of the Italian original published by the Vatican.

On this Easter Christ tells us: “All that the Father gives me will come to me... His will is that I lose nothing of what he has given me.” What immense sweetness these words have.

Pope Francis is Christ’s, he belongs to him, and now that he has left this earth he is fully Christ’s. The Lord has taken Jorge Bergoglio with him since his baptism and throughout his entire existence. He is Christ’s, who has promised for him the fullness of life.

You know how tenderly Pope Francis spoke of Christ, how he enjoyed the sweet name of Jesus, as a good Jesuit. He knew well that he was his, and surely Christ did not leave him, did not lose him. This is our hope that we celebrate with Easter joy under the precious light of this Gospel of today.

We cannot ignore the fact that we are also celebrating Workers’ Day, which was so close to Pope Francis’ heart.

I remember a video he sent some time ago for a meeting of Argentine businessmen. To them he said: “I will not tire of referring to the dignity of labor. Someone made me say that I propose a life without toil, or that I despise the culture of work.” In fact, some dishonest people said Pope Francis was defending the lazy, the drones, the delinquent, the idle.

But he insisted: “Imagine if you can say that about me, a descendant of Piedmontese people, who came to this country not with a desire to be supported but with a great desire to roll up their sleeves and build a future for their families.” You can tell they had annoyed him.

Because for Pope Francis, work expresses and nurtures the dignity of the human being, allows him to develop his abilities, helps him to grow relationships, allows him to feel like a collaborator with God to care for and improve this world, makes him feel useful to society and in solidarity with his loved ones. That is why work, beyond the hardships and difficulties, is a path of human maturation. And that is why he stated that work “is the best help for a poor person.” What’s more, that “there is no poverty worse than that which deprives work and the dignity of work.”

It is worth recalling his words on the trip to Genova. There he argued that “the entire social pact is built around work” and that when there are problems with work “it is democracy that goes into crisis.” Then he took up with admiration what the Italian Constitution says in Article 1: “Italy is a democratic republic, founded on work.”

Behind this love of work is a strong conviction of Pope Francis: the infinite value of every human being, an immense dignity that should never be lost, that under no circumstances can be ignored or forgotten.

But every person is so very worthy, and must be taken so seriously, that it’s not just a matter of giving them things but promoting them. That is, that they can develop all the good in them, that they can earn their bread with the gifts God has given them, that they can develop their abilities. Thus each person is promoted in all his dignity. And this is where work becomes so important.

Now watch out, Francis said. Another thing is some false talk about “meritocracy.” Because it is one thing to evaluate a person’s merits and reward his efforts. Another thing is the false “meritocracy,” which leads us to think that only those who have been successful in life have merits.

Let’s take a look at a person who was born into a good family and was able to increase his wealth, lead a good life with a nice house, car, vacation abroad. Everything is good. He was lucky enough to grow up in the right conditions and performed meritorious deeds. Thus, with skills and time he has built a very comfortable life for himself and his children.

At the same time, one who works with his own arms, with equal or greater merits due to the efforts and time he has invested, has nothing. He has not had the good fortune to be born in the same environment, and no matter how much he sweats, he can barely survive.

Let me tell you about a case I cannot forget: a young man I saw several times near my home in Buenos Aires. I would find him on the street, doing his job, which was to collect cartons and bottles to feed his family. When I went to the university in the morning, when I came back, yet at night I would find him working. I once asked him: “But how many hours do you work?” He replied: “Between 12 and 15 hours a day. Because I have several children to support and I want them to have a better future than mine.”

So I asked him: “But when are you with them?” And he replied: “I have to choose, either I stay with them or I bring them food.” Nevertheless, a well-dressed person passing by said to him: “Go to work, lazy!” Those words seemed to me to be of horrendous cruelty and vanity. But those words can also be found hidden behind other, more elegant speeches.

Pope Francis has issued a prophetic cry against this false idea. And in several conversations he would point out to me: Look, they lead us to think that most poor people are poor because they have no “merit.” It seems that the one who has inherited a lot of possessions is more worthy than the one who has done hard labor all his life without being able to save anything or even buy a small house.

For that stated in Evangelli Gaudium that in this model “it does not seem to make sense to invest so that those who are left behind, the weak or the less gifted can make their way in life” (EG, 209).

The question that comes back is always the same: Are the less gifted not human persons? Do the weak not have the same dignity as we do? Should those who are born with fewer possibilities just be limited to survive? Is there not a chance for them to have a job that will allow them to grow, develop, create something better for their children?

The value of our society depends on the answer we give to these questions.

But let me also introduce Pope Francis as a worker. He not only talked about the value of work, but his whole life was one who lived his mission with great effort, passion, and compromise. It was always a mystery to me to understand how he could endure, even being a large man with several illnesses, such a demanding work rhythm. He not only worked in the morning with various meetings, audiences, celebrations, and gatherings, but also all afternoon. And it seemed to me really heroic that with the very little strength he had in his last days he made himself strong enough to visit a prison.

It’s not that we can take him as an example, because he never used to take a few days off. In Buenos Aires, in the summer, if you couldn’t find a priest you certainly found him. When he was in Argentina he never went out for dinner, to the theater, for a walk, or to see a movie; he never took a day off completely. Instead we, being normal, could not resist. But his life is an incentive to carry out our work generously.

What I want to show, however, is to what extent he understood that his work was his mission, his everyday work was his response to God’s love, it was an expression of his concern for the good of others. And for these reasons work itself was his joy, his nourishment, his rest. He experienced what the first reading we heard says: “None of us lives for himself.”

We ask for all workers, who sometimes have to work in unpleasant conditions, that they may find ways to live their work with dignity and hope, and that they may receive compensation that allows them to look forward with hope.

But in this Mass, with the presence of the Vatican Curia, let us keep in mind that we in the Curia also work. Indeed, we are workers who keep a schedule, who carry out the tasks assigned to us, who must be responsible and strive and sacrifice in our commitments.

The responsibility of work is also for us in the Curia a path of maturation and fulfillment as Christians.

Finally, let me remind you of Pope Francis’ love for St. Joseph, that strong and humble worker, that carpenter from a small forgotten town, who by his work took care of Mary and Jesus.

And we also remember that when Pope Francis had a big problem, he would put a piece of paper with a supplication under the image of St. Joseph. So let us ask St. Joseph in heaven to give a strong hug to our dear Pope Francis.

Vatican City, May 1, 2025 / 17:53 pm (CNA).

Editor’s Note: On May 1, 2025, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Francis, delivered the following homily during the sixth day of Novendiales Masses for Pope Francis. The text below is a CNA working translation of the Italian original published by the Vatican.

On this Easter Christ tells us: “All that the Father gives me will come to me... His will is that I lose nothing of what he has given me.” What immense sweetness these words have.

Pope Francis is Christ’s, he belongs to him, and now that he has left this earth he is fully Christ’s. The Lord has taken Jorge Bergoglio with him since his baptism and throughout his entire existence. He is Christ’s, who has promised for him the fullness of life.

You know how tenderly Pope Francis spoke of Christ, how he enjoyed the sweet name of Jesus, as a good Jesuit. He knew well that he was his, and surely Christ did not leave him, did not lose him. This is our hope that we celebrate with Easter joy under the precious light of this Gospel of today.

We cannot ignore the fact that we are also celebrating Workers’ Day, which was so close to Pope Francis’ heart.

I remember a video he sent some time ago for a meeting of Argentine businessmen. To them he said: “I will not tire of referring to the dignity of labor. Someone made me say that I propose a life without toil, or that I despise the culture of work.” In fact, some dishonest people said Pope Francis was defending the lazy, the drones, the delinquent, the idle.

But he insisted: “Imagine if you can say that about me, a descendant of Piedmontese people, who came to this country not with a desire to be supported but with a great desire to roll up their sleeves and build a future for their families.” You can tell they had annoyed him.

Because for Pope Francis, work expresses and nurtures the dignity of the human being, allows him to develop his abilities, helps him to grow relationships, allows him to feel like a collaborator with God to care for and improve this world, makes him feel useful to society and in solidarity with his loved ones. That is why work, beyond the hardships and difficulties, is a path of human maturation. And that is why he stated that work “is the best help for a poor person.” What’s more, that “there is no poverty worse than that which deprives work and the dignity of work.”

It is worth recalling his words on the trip to Genova. There he argued that “the entire social pact is built around work” and that when there are problems with work “it is democracy that goes into crisis.” Then he took up with admiration what the Italian Constitution says in Article 1: “Italy is a democratic republic, founded on work.”

Behind this love of work is a strong conviction of Pope Francis: the infinite value of every human being, an immense dignity that should never be lost, that under no circumstances can be ignored or forgotten.

But every person is so very worthy, and must be taken so seriously, that it’s not just a matter of giving them things but promoting them. That is, that they can develop all the good in them, that they can earn their bread with the gifts God has given them, that they can develop their abilities. Thus each person is promoted in all his dignity. And this is where work becomes so important.

Now watch out, Francis said. Another thing is some false talk about “meritocracy.” Because it is one thing to evaluate a person’s merits and reward his efforts. Another thing is the false “meritocracy,” which leads us to think that only those who have been successful in life have merits.

Let’s take a look at a person who was born into a good family and was able to increase his wealth, lead a good life with a nice house, car, vacation abroad. Everything is good. He was lucky enough to grow up in the right conditions and performed meritorious deeds. Thus, with skills and time he has built a very comfortable life for himself and his children.

At the same time, one who works with his own arms, with equal or greater merits due to the efforts and time he has invested, has nothing. He has not had the good fortune to be born in the same environment, and no matter how much he sweats, he can barely survive.

Let me tell you about a case I cannot forget: a young man I saw several times near my home in Buenos Aires. I would find him on the street, doing his job, which was to collect cartons and bottles to feed his family. When I went to the university in the morning, when I came back, yet at night I would find him working. I once asked him: “But how many hours do you work?” He replied: “Between 12 and 15 hours a day. Because I have several children to support and I want them to have a better future than mine.”

So I asked him: “But when are you with them?” And he replied: “I have to choose, either I stay with them or I bring them food.” Nevertheless, a well-dressed person passing by said to him: “Go to work, lazy!” Those words seemed to me to be of horrendous cruelty and vanity. But those words can also be found hidden behind other, more elegant speeches.

Pope Francis has issued a prophetic cry against this false idea. And in several conversations he would point out to me: Look, they lead us to think that most poor people are poor because they have no “merit.” It seems that the one who has inherited a lot of possessions is more worthy than the one who has done hard labor all his life without being able to save anything or even buy a small house.

For that stated in Evangelli Gaudium that in this model “it does not seem to make sense to invest so that those who are left behind, the weak or the less gifted can make their way in life” (EG, 209).

The question that comes back is always the same: Are the less gifted not human persons? Do the weak not have the same dignity as we do? Should those who are born with fewer possibilities just be limited to survive? Is there not a chance for them to have a job that will allow them to grow, develop, create something better for their children?

The value of our society depends on the answer we give to these questions.

But let me also introduce Pope Francis as a worker. He not only talked about the value of work, but his whole life was one who lived his mission with great effort, passion, and compromise. It was always a mystery to me to understand how he could endure, even being a large man with several illnesses, such a demanding work rhythm. He not only worked in the morning with various meetings, audiences, celebrations, and gatherings, but also all afternoon. And it seemed to me really heroic that with the very little strength he had in his last days he made himself strong enough to visit a prison.

It’s not that we can take him as an example, because he never used to take a few days off. In Buenos Aires, in the summer, if you couldn’t find a priest you certainly found him. When he was in Argentina he never went out for dinner, to the theater, for a walk, or to see a movie; he never took a day off completely. Instead we, being normal, could not resist. But his life is an incentive to carry out our work generously.

What I want to show, however, is to what extent he understood that his work was his mission, his everyday work was his response to God’s love, it was an expression of his concern for the good of others. And for these reasons work itself was his joy, his nourishment, his rest. He experienced what the first reading we heard says: “None of us lives for himself.”

We ask for all workers, who sometimes have to work in unpleasant conditions, that they may find ways to live their work with dignity and hope, and that they may receive compensation that allows them to look forward with hope.

But in this Mass, with the presence of the Vatican Curia, let us keep in mind that we in the Curia also work. Indeed, we are workers who keep a schedule, who carry out the tasks assigned to us, who must be responsible and strive and sacrifice in our commitments.

The responsibility of work is also for us in the Curia a path of maturation and fulfillment as Christians.

Finally, let me remind you of Pope Francis’ love for St. Joseph, that strong and humble worker, that carpenter from a small forgotten town, who by his work took care of Mary and Jesus.

And we also remember that when Pope Francis had a big problem, he would put a piece of paper with a supplication under the image of St. Joseph. So let us ask St. Joseph in heaven to give a strong hug to our dear Pope Francis.

Vatican City, May 1, 2025 / 17:23 pm (CNA).

Not only did Pope Francis value and promote the dignity of labor, he was someone who personally worked extremely hard, finding joy and rest in work itself, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández said at the sixth Novendiales Mass.

“What I want to show, however, is to what extent [Pope Francis] understood that his work was his mission, his everyday work was his response to God’s love, it was an expression of his concern for the good of others,” Fernández said in St. Peter’s Basilica on May 1.

“For these reasons,” the cardinal continued, “work itself was his joy, his nourishment, his rest. He experienced what the first reading we heard says: ‘None of us lives for himself.’”

The Argentinian cardinal, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and a close personal friend of the late Francis, celebrated Mass with the College of Cardinals as part of the Church’s nine days of mourning.

The 62-year-old Fernández spoke about Pope Francis “as a worker” on the May 1 feast of St. Joseph the Worker, one of the late pope’s favorite saints. May 1 is also Labor Day (also called Workers’ Day) in many countries, including Italy.

Pope Francis “not only talked about the value of work, but his whole life was one who lived his mission with great effort, passion, and compromise,” Fernández, also known by the nickname “Tucho,” said.

“It was always a mystery to me to understand how he could endure, even being a large man with several illnesses, such a demanding work rhythm. He not only worked in the morning with various meetings, audiences, celebrations, and gatherings but also all afternoon. And it seemed to me really heroic that with the very little strength he had in his last days he made himself strong enough to visit a prison.”

The cardinal emphasized that the fact that Francis never took a day off, as pope and as an archbishop and priest in Buenos Aires, should not be taken as an example, “but his life is an incentive to carry out our work generously.”

In his homily, Fernández also reflected on the privileged situation some people find themselves in and gave examples of how two men may work equally hard but one will be more successful, while the other struggles to feed his family.

According to the cardinal, Pope Francis warned against a “false meritocracy” that believes only those who are successful in life have merit while the poor do not.

“Behind this love of work is a strong conviction of Pope Francis: the infinite value of every human being, an immense dignity that should never be lost, that under no circumstances can be ignored or forgotten,” he said.

Vatican City, May 1, 2025 / 17:23 pm (CNA).

Not only did Pope Francis value and promote the dignity of labor, he was someone who personally worked extremely hard, finding joy and rest in work itself, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández said at the sixth Novendiales Mass.

“What I want to show, however, is to what extent [Pope Francis] understood that his work was his mission, his everyday work was his response to God’s love, it was an expression of his concern for the good of others,” Fernández said in St. Peter’s Basilica on May 1.

“For these reasons,” the cardinal continued, “work itself was his joy, his nourishment, his rest. He experienced what the first reading we heard says: ‘None of us lives for himself.’”

The Argentinian cardinal, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and a close personal friend of the late Francis, celebrated Mass with the College of Cardinals as part of the Church’s nine days of mourning.

The 62-year-old Fernández spoke about Pope Francis “as a worker” on the May 1 feast of St. Joseph the Worker, one of the late pope’s favorite saints. May 1 is also Labor Day (also called Workers’ Day) in many countries, including Italy.

Pope Francis “not only talked about the value of work, but his whole life was one who lived his mission with great effort, passion, and compromise,” Fernández, also known by the nickname “Tucho,” said.

“It was always a mystery to me to understand how he could endure, even being a large man with several illnesses, such a demanding work rhythm. He not only worked in the morning with various meetings, audiences, celebrations, and gatherings but also all afternoon. And it seemed to me really heroic that with the very little strength he had in his last days he made himself strong enough to visit a prison.”

The cardinal emphasized that the fact that Francis never took a day off, as pope and as an archbishop and priest in Buenos Aires, should not be taken as an example, “but his life is an incentive to carry out our work generously.”

In his homily, Fernández also reflected on the privileged situation some people find themselves in and gave examples of how two men may work equally hard but one will be more successful, while the other struggles to feed his family.

According to the cardinal, Pope Francis warned against a “false meritocracy” that believes only those who are successful in life have merit while the poor do not.

“Behind this love of work is a strong conviction of Pope Francis: the infinite value of every human being, an immense dignity that should never be lost, that under no circumstances can be ignored or forgotten,” he said.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 1, 2025 / 16:53 pm (CNA).

Two members of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States — Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron — have been tapped to serve on a new presidential commission on religious liberty created by President Donald Trump on Thursday, May 1.

Trump signed an executive order creating the Religious Liberty Commission in the White House Rose Garden surrounded by faith leaders from various traditions. The announcement coincided with the country’s National Day of Prayer.

“As we bow our heads this beautiful day in the Rose Garden on the National Day of Prayer, we once again entrust our lives, our liberties, our happiness to the Creator who gave them to us and who loves us,” said Trump, a self-described “nondenominational Christian,” before signing the order. 

The new Religious Liberty Commission is tasked with creating a report on current threats to freedom of religion and strategies to enhance legal protections for those rights. The report will also outline the foundations of religious liberty in the United States and provide guidance on how to increase the awareness of peaceful religious pluralism in the country.

Some of the commission’s key areas of focus will include parental rights in religious education, school choice, conscience protections, free speech for religious entities, institutional autonomy, and attacks on houses of worship. It was created due to concerns that federal and state policies have infringed upon those rights. 

Members of the newly formed commission include the two Catholic prelates and Protestant leaders, such as Pastor Paula White, along with rabbis and imams. The Catholic president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Ryan Anderson, was also appointed to serve on the commission, as was psychologist and television personality Dr. Phil McGraw and renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson.

The commission will be chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, an evangelical Christian who Trump said gave him the idea to create the commission.

“No one should get between God and a believer,” Patrick said at the event. “No one should get between God and those seeking him.”

Bishop Barron: ‘We are indeed a nation under God’

Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, was in attendance and delivered a prayer for the country and the president. Dolan, the archbishop of New York and a cardinal elector in the upcoming papal conclave, is in Rome.

“We know that the rights we enjoy to life, to liberty, to the pursuit of happiness are given not by government or popular consensus but by [God],” Barron said in his prayer, adding that “we are indeed a nation under God.”

Barron said religious liberty “has been reverenced from the very beginning of our republic as our first freedom” and prayed that God “might give us the grace to preserve it and strengthen it.”

He prayed that God will “bless our president” and that Trump will “strive always to please you in what he says and does, and may he govern under the direction of your providence.” He prayed that the president’s decisions will “always be particularly mindful of those who suffer and those who are most in need.”

Barron also prayed for the American people to always be “architects of justice and makers of peace” and asked God for a country that is “prosperous and strong, but above all righteous and docile to your will.”

In a post on X, Barron expressed gratitude toward Trump for appointing him to serve on the commission and said that religious liberty is a central concern of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“I see my task as bringing the perspective of Catholic social teaching to bear as the commission endeavors to shape public policy in this matter,” he wrote. 

Barron added that he will try to model his service after Father Theodore Hesburgh, who was the president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952–1987 and served on 16 different presidential commissions in Republican and Democratic administrations.

Trump: ‘We have to trust our God’

At the event, Trump remarked that the National Day of Prayer is “a tradition older than our independence itself” and emphasized the importance of Americans putting their trust in God.

“We have to trust our God because our God knows exactly where we’re going, what we’re doing, knows every inch of our lives,” the president said. “And may he continue to hear our prayers to guide our steps and build up our beloved nation to even greater heights. We’re in the process of doing some great things.”

Trump, who earlier this year created the White House Faith Office and the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, said that activity in the Faith Office has been robust with “a lot of people going back and forth.” 

“That’s what we want: to defend and represent people of all faiths and their religious freedoms at home and abroad,” the president said. 

He suggested that because he created the commission on religious liberty with several faith leaders, “we’re probably going to be sued tomorrow” and said in a mocking voice: “Separation of church and state — can’t do that, right?” He asserted that Attorney General Pam Bondi “will win that suit.”

“The separation, is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Trump said. “I’m not sure. But whether there’s separation or not, you guys are in the White House where you should be and you’re representing our country. And we’re bringing religion back to our country.”

During his speech, Trump also spoke about his efforts to combat antisemitism and the ongoing work to get the hostages held by Hamas returned home. He also discussed budget negotiations and the desire to prevent tax hikes, the reduced rate of illegal immigration, and potential trade deals with countries he has subjected to higher tariffs for trade with the U.S.