Trump Mar-a-Lago club hosts Catholic bash for St Joseph’s Day
Hundreds of Catholics gathered at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s famous Palm Beach private club and residence, for a prayer and fellowship event on the Feast of St Joseph. The 19 March event at the famous location in Florida was organised by Catholics for Catholics, a group that seeks to unite conservative ideals with Catholic teachings The post Trump Mar-a-Lago club hosts Catholic bash for St Joseph’s Day first appeared on Catholic Herald. The post Trump Mar-a-Lago club hosts Catholic bash for St Joseph’s Day appeared first on Catholic Herald.
Bro Jim C Salonoy - News Moderator 
Hundreds of Catholics gathered at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s famous Palm Beach private club and residence, for a prayer and fellowship event on the Feast of St Joseph.
The 19 March event at the famous location in Florida was organised by Catholics for Catholics, a group that seeks to unite conservative ideals with Catholic teachings and promote a shared appreciation of US heritage.
Tickets for the event, priced at $1,500 for the full programme, included morning activities, a cocktail reception and dinner. The gathering drew both lay Catholics and around 100 priests were expected to attend.
Speakers included the popular Catholic YouTuber Dr Taylor Marshall; Bishop Joseph Strickland, the emeritus Bishop of Tyler, Texas, who was asked to step down by Pope Francis; pro-life activists who were imprisoned under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and subsequently pardoned by President Trump; and detransitioner Nancy Charles.
Other speakers included several Catholic public and political figures, among them retired US Army General Michael Flynn, veteran political consultant Roger Stone and Human Events editor Jack Posobiec.
Catholics for Catholics states on its website that the US “dodged a bullet figuratively and literally as a country in the last election”. It describes the event at Mar-a-Lago as a chance to “give thanks to God and to implore His help for the many battles ahead”.
Catholics for Catholics President John Yep told the Catholic News Agency (CNA) that he wanted Catholics to gather at Mar-a-Lago because “the place where you pray is also very important”, adding: “We want to go to the home of the current president, President Donald Trump.”
The event was not authorised or endorsed by President Trump, and Catholics for Catholics paid for the use of the venue.
The group reportedly plans to hold annual events on the solemnity of St Joseph at Mar-a-Lago. St Joseph is the patron saint of the Universal Church.
Other events organised by the group have included a Consecration to St Michael led by Bishop Strickland, a live Q&A with US media personality Candace Owens sharing her Catholic conversion story, and a Rosary rally for two priests who were arrested for pro-life protests.
During his 2024 election campaign, Donald Trump made a concerted bid for the Catholic vote in the US, with various Catholic-related lay organisations swinging behind him and proving highly effective at promoting pro-Trump and pro-Republican messaging, alongside heavy criticism of the Democratic Party and its candidate, Kamala Harris.
The new Trump administration’s relationship with US Catholics is proving nuanced: the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has praised Trump’s executive orders to combat gender ideology and recognise the existence of only two genders, CNA notes. At the same time, the USCCB has sharply disagreed with the president on his mass deportation policy and efforts to stop federal funds going to nongovernmental organisations that provide assistance to migrants.
Photo: People watch as President-elect Donald Trump leaves his Mar-a-Lago residence in a motorcade, Palm Beach, Florida, 8 January 2025. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.)
The post Trump Mar-a-Lago club hosts Catholic bash for St Joseph’s Day first appeared on Catholic Herald.
The post Trump Mar-a-Lago club hosts Catholic bash for St Joseph’s Day appeared first on Catholic Herald.
