Christian Defense Coalition director Rev. Patrick Mahoney has been denied a permit to hold a prayer service at the U.S. Capitol during the National Day of Prayer on Thursday May 6, 2021. The U.S. Capitol building has been closed to the public since the day protestors breached the doors of the building back in January 2021, an incident that left five people dead and over 140 injured.
Rev. Patrick Mahoney: ‘Deeply Troubling’
Rev. Patrick Mahoney said, “For 70 years, there has been a public witness on the National Day of Prayer at the U.S. Capitol Building. Until today! Our request to have prayer service was denied.” He asked for people to pray for God’s wisdom.
Charisma News posted a statement given by Rev. Mahoney regarding the current denial for observing the National Day of Prayer 2021 on the U.S. Capitol grounds:
It is deeply troubling for the first time in 70 years, there will not be a public prayer service at the United States Capitol Building on the National Day of Prayer. Every American needs to be asking the question, “How is it possible to have public prayer prohibited at the Capitol on the National Day of Prayer?”—especially when it is a national observance designated by Congress. The “People’s House,” as the U.S. Capitol Building is so rightly called, must be a place where all Americans are afforded the right to come and peacefully celebrate and express their First Amendment rights. Tragically, those rights and freedoms are being denied and prohibited. I will continue to work to ensure the “People’s House” is returned to the people and the First Amendment is once again celebrated and honored at the United States Capitol.