After this year’s May 2 National Day of Prayer, claims circulated on social media that either the event was not held in the U.S. Capitol or it was completely canceled. One post on Facebook stated that 2024 was the “[f]irst time in 70 years, no prayer in the Capital.” Another claim posted on Facebook in 2021 stated that “President Joe Biden has the audacity to Cancel National Prayer Day at the White House.”
The posts are incorrect. The National Day of Prayer organization (NDP) confirmed that a formal observance was indeed held on May 2 in the U.S. Capitol Congressional Auditorium. “We invited congress and congressional staffers to attend and join in prayer,” Amy Parks, the communications director for the NDP, told Dispatch Fact Check via email. “The Congressional Observance was recorded and we shared it with the nation through our 2024 National Day of Prayer Broadcast.”
Established by a 1988 statute, the observance has been held in various areas in the U.S. Capitol, such as the Congressional Auditorium and Statuary Hall, and various locations on Capitol Hill, such as the Cannon House Office Building caucus room.
Over the past 50 years, the NDP organization has consistently hosted formal gatherings in the Capitol, with the exceptions of 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. In 2020, the NDP adapted by hosting a virtual National Observance broadcast that “reached into millions of American homes,” according to a spokesperson at the NDP. Similarly, in 2021, the formal observation was held at historically significant locations, including the Museum of the Bible, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, and the Congressional Cemetery. In 2022, 2023, and 2024, the NDP returned to its traditional format with formal gatherings in the Capitol.
The National Day of Prayer was originally established by President Harry S. Truman on July 4, 1952, to align with the tradition of reverence for the founding of the United States. Despite the date change, Presidential recognition of the event has remained constant, with every President since George H. W. Bush issuing a formal proclamation in support of the celebration. In keeping with tradition, President Joe Biden issued a statement on May 2, 2024, calling “upon the citizens of our Nation to give thanks, in accordance with their own faith and conscience, for our many freedoms and blessings, and I invite all people of faith to join me in asking for God’s continued guidance, mercy, and protection.”
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