3 highlights from Catholic gala featuring Candace Owens, Carrie Prejean Boller, Joe Kent

2. Carrie Prejean Boller receives ‘Catholic Champion’ award

Carrie Prejean Boller, who was removed from President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, received an award for her “courageous defense of the Catholic faith.” 

“Thank you, Catholics for Catholics, for being my champion,” the former Miss California said during her speech. “Knowing the story behind this award makes it even more meaningful.” 

“To be called a Catholic Champion is not something I take lightly, because I understand what that really means,” she added. “It doesn’t mean comfort, popularity or applause. It means standing firm when it would be easier to stay silent.” 

The former Miss California has claimed that she was ousted from the Religious Liberty Commission because she is a Catholic who rejects Zionism. 

During a commission hearing last month on combating antisemitism, Boller defended Owens, denying that the media personality had ever said anything antisemitic. Boller also said during the hearing that Catholics do not support Zionism, and she pushed back against the idea that anti-Zionism — the denial of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland — is a form of antisemitism.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who chairs the Religious Liberty Commission, said in a statement announcing Boller’s removal that “no member of the Commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue.”

Boller mentioned Owens during her gala speech, thanking her for “standing boldly, even when it costs you everything.” She added that “the truth is not always easy to speak, but it is always worth defending.” 

“I stand here tonight not because I deserve it, not because I’m, you know, a courageous person,” Boller said. “I stand here before you tonight because I refuse to compromise my faith. I refuse to be comfortable.” 

Rizkallah said Boller’s behavior during the commission hearing on combating antisemitism was “not an act of Catholic courage,” and disputed the claim that Boller’s faith had anything to do with her removal.

“This was inappropriate behavior that warranted her removal, as Lt. Gov. Patrick rightly determined,” Rizkallah told The Christian Post in a statement last month. “She should not be rewarded for such conduct, nor should it be held up as a model of Catholic witness.”