Carrie Prejean Boller not removed from Religious Liberty Commission because she is Catholic, bishop says
Bishop Robert Barron is pushing back on Carrie Prejean Boller’s claims that she was removed from the White House Religious Liberty Commission last month because of her Catholic faith.
Barron, who leads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota, responded Friday to Prejean Boller’s claims that she was dismissed from the White House Commission on Religious Liberty because of her Catholicism in an X post. Barron, who currently serves on the commission established by President Donald Trump last year, said that she "has called out myself and other Catholic members of the commission for not defending her.”
“This is absurd,” he wrote. “Mrs. Prejean Boller was not dismissed for her religious convictions but rather for her behavior at a gathering of the commission last month: browbeating witnesses, aggressively asserting her point of view, hijacking the meeting for her own political purposes.”
Barron also rejected the idea that Prejean Boller’s views on “Zionism” led to her dismissal from the commission. He outlined the Catholic Church’s position on “Zionism” as the belief that “all forms of antisemitism are to be unequivocally condemned” and that “the modern Israel does not represent the fulfillment of Biblical prophecies and hence does not stand beyond criticism."
“If Mrs. Prejean Boller were dismissed for holding these beliefs, it is difficult to understand why I am still a member of the Commission," Barron said.
“To paint herself as a victim of anti-Catholic prejudice or to claim that her religious liberty has been denied is simply preposterous,” he concluded.
White House Religious Liberty Commission Chairman Dan Patrick announced on X that Prejean Boller had been removed from the commission because of what took place at its Feb. 9 meeting.
Patrick said that “no member of the commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue.” At the meeting, Prejean Boller faced criticism for wearing a U.S. and Palestinian flag pin on her lapel and defending conservative commentator Candace Owens, who has faced allegations of antisemitism because of her views on Israel.
While Prejean Boller maintained that only Trump — not Patrick — had the authority to remove her from the commission, she shared a message she received from the White House earlier this month confirming her dismissal, stating that her membership on the commission had “been terminated effective immediately.” She said her removal was based on her religious and political beliefs as “the only Catholic woman who opposes Zionism.”
Trump established the Religious Liberty Commission in a May 1 executive order. Its stated purpose is to produce a “comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in America,” including threats to religious liberty and strategies to strengthen protections for future generations.
Additional responsibilities of the commission include recommending “steps to secure domestic religious liberty by executive or legislative actions” and identifying opportunities for the White House Faith Office to work with the ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom to advance religious liberty worldwide. The commission has held multiple meetings over the past year.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
