Catholic priest who gave blessing at Trump rally told attendees to ‘pray for his protection’
Pledge to pray for Donald Trump after assassination attempt: Sign now
(LifeSiteNews) — The Catholic priest who gave the benediction at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 told attendees just moments before a gunman opened fire on the former president that they should pray for his protection.
Father Jason Charron, the pastor of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, appeared at the rally on the request of the Trump campaign. The church is approximately 40 miles south of where Trump held the rally.
During his opening prayer, Charron said the United States is in a time of “crisis.” He then begged God that “our world may be set right through Christ our Lord.” He later described the invocation as a “prayer of protection.”
Charron briefly spoke to Trump before his prayer. He thanked him for wanting to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine but also encouraged him to defend the unborn. As he was heading to his vehicle to leave, Charron was asked by several rally goers to speak with them.
Charron told the Pints with Aquinas podcast that he urged them to pray for Trump because “people are going to try and kill him.” It was just several moments later when shots rang out. Charron described the situation as “mass chaos.”
“This is just the beginning and they have opened a horrible, evil, Satanic can of worms,” Charron said. “We are in for the spiritual fight of our lifetime. It began today … there is no coincidence in this world; we are witnessing the intersection of the natural and the supernatural.”
Charron was ordained in 2008 in the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the St. Joseph Eparchy. He has appeared on Pints with Aquinas on many occasions.
Charron further told the podcast that he believes abortion “contributed” to the attempt on Trump’s life because abortion says it is “OK to butcher and dispose of precious human life.”
“If we want peace in our nation, we have to eliminate abortion,” he said.