By David Hood-Nuño and Julio-Cesar Chavez
WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - A Trump administration-backed celebration of U.S. religious heritage on Sunday is highlighting conservative Christian leaders' ties to the president as critics say the gathering does not reflect the country's diverse faith landscape.
The nine-hour program, called "Rededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving," mostly features speakers from two Christian traditions — evangelical Christianity and conservative
Catholicism.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to appear in a video message while senior Republicans including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will speak on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. According to organizers, the event is meant to "prepare for the nation’s 250th birthday with Scripture, testimony, prayer, and rededication of our country as One Nation to God."
The gathering is organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership created by the White House to coordinate 250th anniversary celebrations alongside federal agencies.
Advocates of church-state separation say the event blurs government and religion.
“This government-sponsored prayer fest is the epitome of exactly what our secular Constitution forbids our government from doing,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, in a statement.
“It is a fusion not only of church and state, but also of our federal government with Christian nationalism,” said Gaylor, whose organization advocates for the separation of church and state.
Some critics have pointed to the absence of religious groups such as mainline Protestant churches including Lutherans, Methodists and Episcopalians. Also not represented are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
More than a quarter of all U.S. adults identify as religiously unaffiliated, according to figures from the Pew Research Center. About 23% and 19% identify as evangelical Protestant and Catholic, respectively, and about 11% identify as mainline Protestant.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, urged the organizers to include speakers from other religious groups. Muslims arrived in North America before U.S. independence, said Corey Saylor, research and advocacy director at the organization.
“The reality is that the religious landscape in the United States was more diverse than many people think of, and it certainly means today we have a religious landscape that deserves to be looked at and respected,” Saylor told Reuters.
'SCREENSHOT' OF EARLY AMERICA
Faith leaders slated to speak include Bishop Robert Barron, from the Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester; Jonathan Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University, a school established by Christian evangelicals; and Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, senior rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City.
Among the political speakers are Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican Senator Tim Scott. No prominent Democrats are due to appear.
One of Sunday's speakers, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference leader Samuel Rodriguez, said in an interview that the mostly Christian speaker list reflects what the American colonies looked like after the Great Awakening religious revival of the 18th century.
"It’s pretty much a depiction, a screenshot of our foundation,” Rodriguez told Reuters.
The event is one of 16 planned by the administration for the 250th anniversary of the United States, and the first in 2026. According to the event's website, it is meant to give "praise to God for 250 years of His Providence for the United States, in praying that God Bless and Protect America for the next 250 years, and in solemnly rededicating our country as One Nation under God."
Critics say the Freedom 250 events downplay or ignore troubling elements of the nation's past such as slavery and violence toward Indigenous people.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, have criticized Pope Leo and other faith leaders who disagree with the administration's policies. After feuding with the pope, Trump briefly posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Christ-like figure before deleting it following criticism from some administration supporters.
(Reporting by David Hood-Nuño and Julio-Cesar Chavez; Editing by Sergio Non and Cynthia Osterman)
