DENVER — After Denver’s top Catholic cleric led a prayer over President Donald Trump in the White House last week, he said he knew the event might be used for political purposes — but he didn’t intend for his participation to be an endorsement of the president.

“We pray for people,” Archbishop James Golka told the Denver Catholic, a publication of the Denver archdiocese. “We bless people who need blessing. And we all need blessing, every single one of us. That’s what we do.”

Golka made the comments late last week, shortly after the White House released footage and images of Golka and other Catholic bishops surrounding Trump in prayer inside the Oval Office. The meeting and images — released 12 days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections — drew swift criticism, and CNN reported Monday that two other bishops who participated in the event said they regretted their attendance.

In his comments to the Denver Catholic, Golka said he’d decided to attend Thursday’s meeting with the president after praying over it. The meeting gave him and other bishops “a great opportunity to raise important issues for the Church’s benefit,” he said, but he also “knew people might be upset” and that the event might be used for “political purposes.”

He and several other Catholic officials met with Trump administration officials to discuss immigration — including visas for religious workers — as well as “the protection of life, religious freedom and school choice,” according to the Denver Catholic.

The bishops were then brought in to meet and pray over Trump.

“I understand that many people saw the video, posted by the Administration twelve days before an election, as an endorsement. That was never my intention,” Golka said. “The bishops of the United States teach that the Church cannot champion any candidate or party. I hold to that.

“I’m heartbroken that people are hurt, and that there are people intentionally using this moment to sow disunity. That’s not a fruit of the Spirit,” he continued. He also called on people to “look beyond the headlines, which are often crafted to provoke.”

The Archdiocese of Denver did not return messages seeking comment late Monday afternoon.

Golka became Denver’s archbishop earlier this year after serving as bishop in Colorado Springs. He succeeded Samuel Aquila, who submitted his required resignation last year after 13 years atop the archdiocese.

Other Catholic bishops have also taken steps to contain the fallout from the event. In a statement Sunday, Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob issued a public apology “for any damage my actions have done.”

He wrote that the attending bishops were told the meeting would be a private discussion and that there may be “an opportunity to pray privately with the president” afterward.

“Unbeknownst to the group of bishops, a video was also taken,” Grob wrote. “But permission for the public distribution or posting of either the video or photos was not given by the bishops.”

He said the event had been “manipulated” and that the bishops hadn’t come to the White House to “pose for a political photo opportunity to benefit the few. We should never have been put in that position by the White House.”

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