President Donald Trump on May 1 signed an executive order creating a religious liberty commission during an interfaith event marking the National Day of Prayer in the White House Rose Garden.
Those named to the commission included Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minn.
The White House said the commission, which will advise its Faith Office and the Domestic Policy Council, is tasked with producing “a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in America, strategies to increase awareness of and celebrate America’s peaceful religious pluralism, current threats to religious liberty, and strategies to preserve and enhance protections for future generations,” and that some of its areas of focus include school choice and conscience protections.
In comments at the event, Trump sought to cast his administration as one defending “people of all faiths, their religious freedoms, at home and abroad.”
Trump lamented the absence of Cardinal Dolan from the event. He is in Rome preparing for the conclave to elect a new pope later in May, following the April 21 death of Pope Francis.
“He has really an excuse,” Trump said of the prelate. “Cardinal Dolan is in Rome, I just left Rome, it was a beautiful service,” Trump said in reference to his attendance at the late pontiff’s funeral April 26. “But he’s in Rome having to vote for the next pope.”
In a post on X, Bishop Barron wrote, “I am grateful to President Trump for appointing me to serve on the Commission on Religious Liberty. Freedom of religion in our country has been a central concern of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for decades, and 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.”
