(LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop emeritus of New York who also serves on President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, has expressed his agreement with Bishop Robert Barron’s defense of Carrie Prejean Boller’s removal from the Commission last month.
In a March 24 X post, Cardinal Dolan wrote that he agrees “wholeheartedly” with his brother bishop’s rejection last week of Prejean Boller’s plea to defend her upholding of Catholic teaching on Zionism, calling his comments “characteristically clear.” The bishop of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, accused her of “hijacking” a Commission hearing last month for “political purposes” in his own X post last week.
During that Commission hearing on “antisemitism,” Prejean Boller, a Catholic convert, boldly denounced Zionism and emphasized that Catholics do not embrace this ideology, which ultimately led to her removal from the Commission.
Below is a statement that my brother bishop, @BishopBarron – a colleague on the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty –recently issued. His comments are characteristically clear, and I agree wholeheartedly. https://t.co/lvKMD2haQU
— Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) March 24, 2026
Prejean Boller had addressed Barron on X last week, encouraging the bishop to speak out on her removal and against Zionism.
“If my religious freedom is not protected, then no one’s is. Please speak up. Please stand up for Catholics,” she urged. “Be brave, Bishop Barron. The world needs brave men.”
“Whether I serve on this Commission or not, my voice will only grow louder for those being persecuted for their faith,” she added. “I believe this appointment was ordained by God, and I will not abandon my Catholic faith to keep a position on a commission that has abandoned its mission.”
Your Excellency, you shared with me through text message to me that my position reflects Catholic teaching, especially that the modern state of Israel is not the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
That is the position I expressed, and yet I was removed from the Religious Liberty… https://t.co/jLEiG4DTnA
— Carrie Prejean Boller (@CarriePrejean1) March 20, 2026
Barron later responded by dismissing her claims while insinuating that she is falsely portraying herself as a victim of anti-Catholic prejudice, and called her assertion of her religious liberty being denied “simply preposterous.”
READ: Carrie Prejean Boller stands firm as Bishop Barron accuses her of ‘hijacking’ hearing
“Over the past several weeks, Carrie Prejean Boller has complained that she was removed from the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty because of her Catholic beliefs, and she has called out myself and other Catholic members of the commission for not defending her,” the bishop wrote.
“This is absurd. 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,” he added.
Over the past several weeks, Carrie Prejean Boller has complained that she was removed from the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty because of her Catholic beliefs, and she has called out myself and other Catholic members of the commission for not defending her. This is… https://t.co/l8Bs5Cco4n
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) March 20, 2026
Prejean Boller responded by alleging that she had originally been asked to resign from the commission last August, casting doubt on Barron’s notion that she was only forced out over her “behavior” at February’s hearing.
“I was asked to resign in August for the same reasons I was removed in February. You knew about this because you called me immediately after I sent you this email, and you were in shock. Do you really want to stick with this story, Your Excellency?” she wrote.
I was asked to resign in August for the same reasons I was removed in February. You knew about this because you called me immediately after I sent you this email, and you were in shock. Do you really want to stick with this story, Your Excellency? https://t.co/XHYO6k9nbJ pic.twitter.com/9JqMkiXE6X
— Carrie Prejean Boller (@CarriePrejean1) March 21, 2026
During a February episode of The John-Henry Westen Show, Prejean Boller described the numerous death threats she has received since defending the faith at the Commission hearing. She stressed that despite these threats, she would rather die than be forced to deny her Catholic faith and will continue defending the truth.
READ: Catholic ousted from Religious Liberty Commission speaks out on death threats
“There’s people that want to take me out simply because I’m a Catholic and I stand for what is right and true and good and beautiful. I stand for life, for all life,” she said. “They want to call me names, they want to label me an anti-Semite or a bigot or a hateful person. It’s the exact opposite. … I’m just standing for my Catholic faith, and I hope everybody else has the courage to do the same.”
