NOTE: This piece was originally published at our newsletter A Public Witness.
As employees of the U.S. Department of Labor gathered in a large auditorium in their agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday (March 11), they came for the fourth monthly edition of what’s billed as “the secretary’s prayer service.” While organizers claim the services are for everyone, the March event particularly showed this was a service crafted by Catholics. And it also included a homily that unironically urged those gathered in the government building for a worship service put together with public resources to not be like “hypocrites” who pray in public.
During the service, Jews and Protestants at times received a nod from leaders of the DoL’s Center for Faith, as an effort to cast this as an interfaith service. But at several points the government service offered the Catholic faith as the default, normalized version of faith, prayer, the Bible, and worship.
Kenneth Wolfe, the director of the DoL’s Center for Faith, opened the service with the same traditional Catholic prayer he started the previous three services with: “Direct, we beseech thee, O Lord, all our actions by thy holy inspiration, and carry them on by thy gracious assistance so that every work and prayer of ours may begin from thee and through thee be happily ended. We ask this in thy name, amen.”
Prior to joining the Trump administration in his role at DoL, Wolfe wrote for various traditionalist Catholic publications, arguing for Mass to be in Latin. The Latin Mass has proved popular among some rightwing Trumpian Catholics in recent years, including Steve Bannon, Candace Owens, and Harrison Butker.
In his opening remarks, Wolfe tried to cast the service as interfaith by referring to both a recent Jewish holy day and an ongoing Christian liturgical season to explain that this month’s theme was “fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.” He did not, however, note that it is also currently Ramadan, the holiest time for Muslims (and a time that would’ve fit well with the chosen theme).
“Last week, the Jewish holiday of Purim was celebrated, which, among other things, consisted of prayer and giving charity to the poor. For Christians, we’re in Lent, and tomorrow marks the halfway point of Lent, a time of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving,” Wolfe said. “At today’s prayer service, we will incorporate all of these themes of penance, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and charity. It is a time to turn our hearts back to God and to deepen our faith.”
No other references to Purim or the Jewish faith occurred in the service. And there were quickly signs to Jews as well as Protestants that this was designed as an explicitly Catholic service. For instance, the next part of the service was DoL Center for Faith Deputy Director Brent Perrin leading those present in saying the “Our Father,” which is not only a Christian prayer that Jesus taught his followers to say but is also the Catholic name for it (instead of the more common Protestant terminology of “the Lord’s Prayer”). As with the previous DoL services, the version printed in the program also matched how Catholics say the prayer and not how many Protestant traditions do.
After the prayer, Perrin invited those in the DoL congregation to join him in reading aloud two biblical passages: Job 2:12-13 and verses from a Psalm by David after his affair with Bathsheba. He introduced those passages as “from the Old Testament,” thus excluding Jews from the centered audience. And for both passages, the version in the printed program and therefore voiced in unison matched a Catholic translation but not the King James Version or any major contemporary version.
Additionally, how to identify the verses from the Book of Psalms that were read depends on one’s tradition and Bible. Perrin called it Psalm 50:11-15, which matches the traditional Catholic numbering. However, the modern Catholic numbering used by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on their website calls those verses Psalm 51:11-15. But other versions of the Bible used in Protestant congregations — including the KJV, NIV, NRSV, and ESV — call those verses Psalm 51:9-13. That means that if a Catholic using a more modern version or any Protestant opened their Bible to read along during the service, they would’ve been directed to the wrong place.
Screengrabs as Alberto Calimano reads from the Bible and Kenneth Wolfe plays the piano (right) during a worship service at the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2026.
Later in the service, Alberto Calimano, a Catholic anti-abortion activist and senior advisor for the DoL Center for Faith, led those gathered in reading two more passages: Tobit 12:8-10 and Matthew 6:1-6. Not only did he also use a traditional Catholic translation, the Book of Tobit is considered part of the biblical canon in Catholic and Orthodox traditions but not by Jews or Protestants. In this service, it was introduced authoritatively as from “the Bible.”
The service also included three songs that those present were invited to join in singing. The first was “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.” Wolfe introduced the second, “Be Thou My Vision,” as a hymn of Irish origin that they chose for the service to honor St. Patrick. As usual, the DoL service ended with the singing of “God Bless America.” Calimano urged that they sing the song as a prayer “for our troops in the Middle East and around the world, for all law enforcement personnel, and for our leaders.”
The guest preacher for Wednesday’s service was Monsignor Charles Pope, a Catholic priest and writer in Washington, D.C. Wolfe noted he had known Pope for three decades, adding that Pope performed his wedding and that he has on many occasions sung Gregorian chant during Latin masses led by Pope. Wolfe also said several DoL staffers attend Bible studies and events Pope leads on Capitol Hill. Pope notes on his website that he has in the past led weekly Bible studies in the Capitol and White House.
Pope focused his homily on the importance of “interiority,” adding that “what’s most valuable and important is that inner place in our hearts.” With that topic, he connected the service’s theme of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to “the Lenten observances that are spoken of in the scriptures.” With that focus, he unironically warned about “the danger of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving is that we do it in order to be seen. And this goes to what Jesus says: ‘Don’t be like the hypocrites who pray in public places so they can be seen’ and so on.” Noting that the Greek word for “hypocrite” literally means an actor, Pope urged those at the DoL not to similarly seek public applause for performing religious acts.
“[Jesus’s] saying that hypocrisy is the sad, sad reduction of we human persons to a lonely actor on the stage desperate for approval and applause,” Pope added. “So I just conclude by simply saying interiority — that place where we go from all the noise and clamor— we go to that beautiful, quiet place and spend some time with God and take Scripture, listen as if you were reading a love letter from your father who loves you. Read it slowly. Read it carefully. Be alone with God.”
As he walked off stage at the end of his sermon, the people in the public office building applauded.
Screengrab as Monsignor Charles Pope preaches during a worship service at the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2026.
Larger Christian Nationalist Effort
In an administration full of Christian Nationalism, the Department of Labor has still managed to stand out as one of the agencies most pushing such an ideology.
After attending a Christian worship service at the Pentagon in October, DoL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer decided to start a similar monthly prayer service at DoL. The first one was a Christmas service full of Christian prayers and hymns. It also included a recognition of Hanukkah with remarks by a Trump-backing rabbi who used the occasion to attack same-sex marriage, transgender people, and abortion. Chavez-DeRemer later also attended a second Pentagon worship service in December, during which Franklin Graham gave a “Christmas” message about the importance of following a “God of war.” The second DoL worship service was entirely Christian. Anti-abortion activist Alveda King, the guest preacher, told employees they must work without complaining or not eat, and she criticized people who aren’t religious. The DoL worship service last month featured a sermon by MAGA preacher Leon Benjamin, who argued that DoL employees are working for God and Trump.
In contrast to the Catholic leaning of the DoL services, the ten monthly worship services at the Pentagon have all featured sermons by rightwing Protestant preachers.
The DoL has also sparked criticism recently for social media posters featuring muscular White men as the face of the nation and slogans seeming to echo Nazi propaganda. Multiple of those social media posters include Christian churches as part of this “American dream.” However, the tone of the social media has softened after the staffer who created those posters moved to the social media team of the Department of Homeland Security.
Additionally, reporting earlier this month uncovered ties between DoL and the law school at Liberty University, a rightwing evangelical college in Virginia founded by the late Jerry Falwell. The university was later led by Jerry Falwell Jr., an early supporter of Trump during the 2016 campaign, until he resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
Law school students recently received an email from a school administrator about an “exciting opportunity to intern with the Department of Labor in DC.” However, they were told there were two key requirements: “willing to work hard” and “aligned politically with President Trump.” Students were encouraged to apply if they met those “two most important requirements,” even if their grades aren’t good. Students were also told that among the interview questions for the DoL internship would be “Did you vote for President Trump” and “Do you disagree with the president on anything?”
The entrance to the U.S. Department of Labor is seen near the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on May 7, 2020. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)
Meanwhile, Chavez-DeRemer has been embroiled in scandals, including allegations that she’s been having an affair with a member of her security team and that she’s used department resources for personal trips. During the ongoing internal investigation, two of her top aides resigned earlier this month after being placed on leave for allegedly facilitating her personal travel. Additionally, Chavez-DeRemer’s husband has been barred from the DoL headquarters in D.C. after at least two female DoL employees claimed he acted improperly toward them. Chavez-DeRemer attended Wednesday’s service, but she did not speak as she had during two earlier services.
During Wednesday’s service, Wolfe announced that next month’s preacher will be Rev. Joel Schmidgall, lead pastor at National Community Church, an Assemblies of God congregation in Washington, D.C.
As a public witness,
Brian Kaylor
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