NOTE: This piece was originally published at our newsletter A Public Witness.
Shortly after controversial evangelical preacher Doug Wilson preached at the Pentagon in February, he declared that his Christian Nationalist vision for the United States was a Protestant nation where public Catholic worship would be banned, like that of Hinduism and other religions. On Wednesday (June 24), the monthly worship service at the Pentagon included a sermon from a former Catholic priest (and current Fox News commentator) and a Catholic prayer from Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams.
Since Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself “secretary of war,” started his monthly Christian worship services at the Pentagon in May 2025, each service until this month featured a sermon from a rightwing evangelical. In addition to Wilson, two other previous services included a pastor in Wilson’s Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, while seven had sermons from a Southern Baptist preacher (including two Trump administration officials), two had sermons from a member of the Graham family, and one included an NFL player-turned-businessman and evangelist (in addition to another former NFL player as one of the Southern Baptists). The evangelical slant of the services has stood in contrast to the more Catholic services that were held at the Department of Labor until Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer was ousted.
Now, a rightwing Catholic has also been invited to the Pentagon pulpit. Jonathan Morris left the priesthood with approval from Pope Francis in 2019 in order to pursue marriage and raise a family. The next year, he married an ABC News producer and they now have two children. In addition to his Fox News gig, Morris is an executive coach and author (and he served as a theological advisor to Mel Gibson for The Passion of the Christ).
Even before leaving the priesthood, Morris joined Fox News as a contributor and analyst, frequently appearing with Hegseth. In a Fox News segment during the 2020 presidential election, Hegseth and Morris accused Democratic candidates of being inauthentic and just invoking their Christian faith for political gain — all while praising Donald Trump. In another segment, the two (along with Southern Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress) attacked the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America during the first Trump administration for pledging to offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants. More recently, Morris did say Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV were “not helpful,” but Morris still defended the Iran war waged by Trump and Hegseth and attacked “liberal” Catholic cardinals who criticized the war.
Screengrabs as Jonathan Morris (left) preaches and military members (right) lead singing during a worship service at the Pentagon on June 24, 2026.
In addition to Morris, the June service also featured a prayer from an MLB pitcher who recently was in the news amid allegations that his team punished him for his Catholic faith. In May, a conservative activist known for secretly filmed videos (that are often deceptively edited) released footage of a Washington Nationals executive appearing to admit on hidden-camera footage that the team doesn’t highlight Williams on social media because of Williams’s outspoken religiosity and public criticism of the Los Angeles Dodgers for inviting a performance from a group of satirical drag queens dressed like nuns. The Nationals executive, who also said on tape that they invited Hegseth to games in hopes of getting more sponsorship money from defense contractors, was quickly fired by the team and another executive apologized to Williams.
Republican politicians like Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri criticized the alleged treatment of Williams as “anti-Christian.” More recently, Hawley also led efforts against the MLB after some San Francisco Giants players were initially warned for putting Bible verses on their hats in protest of a Pride Month emphasis.
For the first time, Hegseth completely missed the service, although his wife and children were sitting in the front row as usual. He was instead on Capitol Hill meeting privately with Republican politicians to drum up support for the administration’s goals for increased military funding. Normally, he prays and offers some remarks, such as in April when his prayer came from a Samuel L. Jackson monologue in Pulp Fiction.
‘Battle for the American Soul’
Wednesday’s service included the invocation of several biblical prophets. From Isaiah to John the baptizer to Elijah, the prophets were conscripted to serve the U.S. Department of Defense.
The chaplain who opened and closed the service started by reading from Isaiah 40, where “those who hope in the Lord” are promised that they “shall mount up on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.” The chaplain insisted the Pentagon services showed that they were the ones who wait and trust in God.
In his prayer during Wednesday’s service, Williams invoked the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and expressed his hope that we would be “not merely as a nation of laws but as a people who acknowledge [God] as the source of these laws.” Noting that the service was occurring on the Catholic feast day of the Nativity of John the Baptist, Williams borrowed from Zechariah’s prayer over his newborn John as a prayer for the nation: “’In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and guide our feet into the way of peace.’ Our Lady of Victory, pray for us. Amen. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Screengrab as Trevor Williams prays during a worship service at the Pentagon on June 24, 2026.
Morris used as his primary text for his sermon the incident in 1 Kings 19 when the prophet Elijah heard the voice of God not in a mighty wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a “calm, quiet whisper.” Morris urged those present not to listen to “the father of lies” who tells them “you are nothing,” but instead to listen to the whisper of God. Morris did not mention the context of the story of Elijah, who was not in the halls of power but in the wilderness while hiding from the ruler threatening to kill him with a powerful military.
Morris, who warned that there is a “battle for the American soul,” also urged those present to live out the “fruits of the Spirit” as listed by Paul in Galatians: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Without any sense of irony, the supporter of Trump and Hegseth added, “We see it all the time: backstabbing, self-aggrandizement, lying, bullying, blaming, anger, power-games, passive-aggressive behavior. We’ve seen it in our leaders. … Think about how different [the fruit of the Spirit] is than that low-security leadership that we talked about, of the backstabbing, the passive-aggressive, the we can go on and on, self-aggrandizement.”
After the short homily and the reciting of the Lord’s Prayer, two uniformed military members led congregational singing of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” “Goodness of God,” and the “Doxology.” Before the service started, recordings of several Christian worship songs were played as people assembled in the hall, including “Our God is Greater,” “God’s Not Dead (Like a Lion),” 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),” “Lord, I Need You,” and “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail).”
After a short benediction, the chaplain who led the service urged those gathered in the Pentagon to “depart in peace.”
As a public witness,
Brian Kaylor
A Public Witness is a reader-supported publication of Word&Way. To receive new posts and support our journalism ministry, subscribe today.
