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In sermon to Trump, Bishop Budde pleads for immigrants, transgender rights

  
Via:  John Russell  •  2 weeks ago  •  34 comments

By:   Jack Jenkins (RNS)

In sermon to Trump, Bishop Budde pleads for immigrants, transgender rights
"Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now," Budde said in her sermon. "There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in both Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives."

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WASHINGTON (RNS) — President Donald Trump attended the inaugural prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral Tuesday morning (Jan 21), finishing off the festivities marking the beginning of his second term with an interfaith service filled with prayers and hymns — and a sermon that offered a religious challenge to his administration's stated goals.

About halfway through the service, Trump, seated in the front row, heard a sermon that functioned as one of the first public criticisms of his second administration. After beginning her homily by exploring the difficulty of forging a "kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good," Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, singled out three foundational principles for the task: honoring the inherent dignity of every human being, honesty and humility.

Near the end of her sermon, Budde directed her remarks directly to Trump himself, noting the declaration in his inaugural address that he believes he was "saved by God" from an assassination attempt last year.

She then expressed concern for LGBTQ people who may feel targeted by his administration: On Monday evening, Trump signed a blitz of executive orders, including one which condemned "gender ideology" and declared, "it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female."

"Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now," Budde said in her sermon. "There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in both Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives."

Budde also made a plea for immigrants, a group under fire from Trump's incoming administration, saying they include people who "pick our crops" and "work the night shift in hospitals," among other vital roles.

The Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, right, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, preaches during the national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (RNS photo/Jack Jenkins)

"They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals," she said. "They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples."

It was a forceful rebuttal of Trump's approach to immigration: He has pledged to enact the largest deportation in history, with early reports that his administration may begin conducting deportation raids as early as Tuesday. In addition, among Trump's first executive orders included a move to end birthright citizenship and a measure declaring a near-total halt of the U.S. refugee admissions program — a move widely opposed by Trump's religious critics.

Budde then implored the president to "have mercy … on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here."

She added: "Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land."

Budde concluded: "May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world."

The Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, center, passes President Donald Trump while processing into the national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (RNS photo/Jack Jenkins)

When Budde processed by the president as she left the service a few minutes later, Trump stared straight ahead.

Other prayers in the service also made reference to immigrants, refugees and the poor.

The service — which Trump officials call a "National Prayer Service" but which Cathedral sources referred to as "A Service of Prayer for the Nation" — featured prayers, invocations, and scripture readings from Episcopalian, AME, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Mennonite, Jewish, Indigenous, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh traditions as well as members from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Attendees, who did not fill the space, also sung a range of hymns and songs, such as "For the Healing of the Nations" and the National Anthem of the United States.

In addition to Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance were also at the service. So were members of Trump's family, as well some of his longtime evangelical supporter and advisors, including pastor Paula White, former head of his White House faith office; pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church, in Dallas, Texas; pastor Jentezen Franklin, head of Free Chapel in Georgia; Sean Feucht, a musician and activist; and Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of 180 church in Detroit, who prayed during Trump's inauguration on Monday shortly before launching his own cryptocurrency.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican's ambassador to the U.S., was also spotted in the room, as was Pete Hegseth, an evangelical Christian and Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense.

The service differed from past iterations in that the preacher — Budde — was announced before Election Day, and the incoming administration generally had less say over the event. The changes were unveiled in October, with Cathedral dean the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith insisting in a statement that "This will not be a service for a new administration."

The move may have been an attempt to preempt the kind of pushback the Cathedral faced from liberal-leaning Episcopalians when it agreed to host Trump's first inaugural prayer service in 2017, including public criticism voiced by the Cathedral's former dean — who left in 2015 — the Rev. Gary Hall.

"This will have the effect of legitimizing his presidency, which is something I don't think the Christian community should give him," Hall said at the time.

But Budde defended the decision at the time, saying she was "trying to create a church where we actually speak to people who see the world differently than we do."

Even so, Budde was an outspoken critic of Trump during his first term, particularly when racial justice protesters were forcibly cleared from Lafayette Square just before Trump convened a photo op that included holding up a Bible in front of St. John's Church (an Episcopal congregation within the diocese). Budde condemned the actions, noting that among those forcibly cleared were an Episcopal priest and a seminarian who were there handing out water to demonstrators at the behest of the diocese.

"The symbolism of him holding a Bible … as a prop and standing in front of our church as a backdrop when everything that he has said is antithetical to the teachings of our traditions and what we stand for as a church — I was horrified," she told Religion News Service at the time.

This is a developing story and will be updated.


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JohnRussell
Professor Principal
1  seeder  JohnRussell    2 weeks ago

Here is the video

truth to power

 
 
 
Sean Treacy
Professor Principal
2  Sean Treacy    2 weeks ago

I’m sure a woke scold hijacking a church service to deliver a self righteous political lecture will really cause A lot of problems for trump. 

but she did a great job of capturing  why Episcopalianism barely even registers any more.  Wokeism can’t really replace actual religion, as athiests aren’t going to attend church no matter how much they get pandered to.

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
2.1  seeder  JohnRussell  replied to  Sean Treacy @2    2 weeks ago

He got a little karma, yesterday Biden and Harris had to sit and listen to him "scold" them.  Today was a little more on the money though, and Trump had to sit there and take it. 

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
2.2  seeder  JohnRussell  replied to  Sean Treacy @2    2 weeks ago
 Wokeism can’t really replace actual religion,

You think no "woke" people believe in God?  LOL

 
 
 
Ozzwald
Professor Quiet
2.2.1  Ozzwald  replied to  JohnRussell @2.2    2 weeks ago
You think no "woke" people believe in God?

What did Jesus say about immigrants???

 
 
 
George
Senior Expert
2.2.2  George  replied to  Ozzwald @2.2.1    2 weeks ago
What did Jesus say about immigrants???

Who the fuck cares, the moronic left endlessly bleats we are not a christian nation. 

 
 
 
Ozzwald
Professor Quiet
2.2.3  Ozzwald  replied to  George @2.2.2    2 weeks ago
Who the fuck cares

Says someone who cannot justify his side of the argument.

the moronic left endlessly bleats we are not a christian nation.

Apparently the right cares because they are endlessly bleating that we are a christian nation.  But that really doesn't matter because the right is constantly claiming to follow Jesus Christ, yet at the same time ignoring most of what he has said according to the bible.

 
 
 
George
Senior Expert
2.2.4  George  replied to  Ozzwald @2.2.3    2 weeks ago
Says someone who cannot justify his side of the argument.

Please articulate in detail with cites to my comments on immigration and illegal immigration, and what my position on the differences are.

 
 
 
Ozzwald
Professor Quiet
2.2.5  Ozzwald  replied to  George @2.2.4    2 weeks ago

Please articulate in detail with cites to my comments on immigration and illegal immigration, and what my position on the differences are.

Who the fuck cares

jrSmiley_10_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
2.2.6  Trout Giggles  replied to  Ozzwald @2.2.1    2 weeks ago

to fee them, clothe them, house them

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
2.2.7  Trout Giggles  replied to  Ozzwald @2.2.3    2 weeks ago

Every time one of them proclaims they are a Christian I laugh at them. They surely don't show Christ-like qualities here.

 
 
 
Ozzwald
Professor Quiet
2.2.8  Ozzwald  replied to  Trout Giggles @2.2.6    2 weeks ago
to feed them, clothe them, house them

Thank you!!!  Someone finally, honestly, answered my question.

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
2.2.9  Trout Giggles  replied to  Ozzwald @2.2.8    2 weeks ago

I did go to Sunday School at some point....lol

 
 
 
Ozzwald
Professor Quiet
2.2.10  Ozzwald  replied to  Trout Giggles @2.2.7    2 weeks ago
Every time one of them proclaims they are a Christian I laugh at them.

They believe, they just don't follow. 

Go to any church and they will cherry pick passages that better suit the crowd and try to get more int the seats the next Sunday.  They will preach the 10 Commandments but ignore the slavery, misogyny, rape, and pedophilia.

 
 
 
Ozzwald
Professor Quiet
2.2.11  Ozzwald  replied to  Trout Giggles @2.2.9    2 weeks ago
I did go to Sunday School at some point....lol

Me too.  They literally called my parents because I kept asking questions the Sunday school teachers couldn't answer.

 
 
 
bugsy
Professor Participates
2.3  bugsy  replied to  Sean Treacy @2    2 weeks ago

I remember when leftists used to scold church leaders about preaching politics from the pulpit, and that church should lose their tax exempt status. 

I guess it all just depends on which politics you preach.

 
 
 
Snuffy
Professor Participates
2.3.1  Snuffy  replied to  bugsy @2.3    2 weeks ago

It is kind of funny as they are quick to state that this country is not a Christian country, and that there must be separation between Church and State. Yet they are quick to point out that Jesus said to welcome the foreigner and to love and treat the foreigner as your own family. 

I have yet to hear any of them complain about the immigration requirements for other countries. You can't just show up in Australia or New Zealand and move into a house to live there. There are rules that must be followed and there are requirements for someone to be able to stay permanently. 

 
 
 
Sean Treacy
Professor Principal
2.3.2  Sean Treacy  replied to  bugsy @2.3    2 weeks ago
guess it all just depends on which politics you preach.

When you worship at the altar of George Floyd, all is forgiven. 

 
 
 
bugsy
Professor Participates
2.3.3  bugsy  replied to  Sean Treacy @2.3.2    2 weeks ago

What month do we celebrate ole George being clean?

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
2.3.4  Trout Giggles  replied to  Snuffy @2.3.1    2 weeks ago

One can like the concept of a man who supposedly preached love, kindness, and compassion but one doesn't have to like his "follwers"

What do you know of the immigration laws in those countries you mentioned? I know I won't ever be able to immigrate to Canada because of my age and I don't have a skill set they need. So here I am stuck here with you

 
 
 
Snuffy
Professor Participates
2.3.5  Snuffy  replied to  Trout Giggles @2.3.4    2 weeks ago
What do you know of the immigration laws in those countries you mentioned?

I have researched it and Google can be a friend in this circumstance. Family had thought about the potential of moving there should Trump be re-elected (yes, this was at the beginning of his campaign) as they were worried about WW3 and New Zealand and Australia were in their opinion one of the safer areas. While I would have met the work skills they wanted (IT) and my SIL would also (IT Security), the rest of the family would have been problematic. Now that I'm retired, I can go as a retiree. 

It's not difficult to find out what is needed to immigrate to other countries, the information is freely available. But the point was that there are many countries who have requirements in order to immigrate. As you said yourself, you wouldn't be able to immigrate to Canada due to your age and skill sets. Why does America need to just accept anybody who walks in? 

So here I am stuck here with you

Sorry you felt the need to go snarky. My post that you responded to was not aimed at you but towards leftists in general. 

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
2.3.6  Trout Giggles  replied to  Snuffy @2.3.5    2 weeks ago

Honestly, I didn't think that sounded snarky so I apologize. I was trying for a joke but once it again it fell flat

No place is safe during WWIII. Every body will get blown to Kingdom Come

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3  Trout Giggles    2 weeks ago

Some Senator said she should be deported because of her sermon. trmp also had some not so nice things to say

After the service on Tuesday, Republican U.S. Representative Mike Collins from Georgia posted a video clip on X of Budde's sermon along with the text, "The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list."
Trump, in a lengthy post  on Truth Social , called Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s remarks “nasty” and not smart.
“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart,” he said.
Trump also called on her and the church to apologize to him. “She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”
 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
3.1  seeder  JohnRussell  replied to  Trout Giggles @3    2 weeks ago

they are loons

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
3.2  seeder  JohnRussell  replied to  Trout Giggles @3    2 weeks ago

Trump and his crowd want to berate people, laugh at them, call them names , but let one person give it back to them and they are attacked .  Trump can dish it out but he cant take it. 

This bishop was brave, because she is probably getting death threats right now for the crime of asking trump to show mercy on someone. 

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3.2.1  Trout Giggles  replied to  JohnRussell @3.2    2 weeks ago

She's probably facing a tax audit right about now

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
3.2.2  seeder  JohnRussell  replied to  Trout Giggles @3.2.1    2 weeks ago

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Poor baby. 

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3.2.3  Trout Giggles  replied to  JohnRussell @3.2.2    2 weeks ago

I read on NPR that he was fidgeting and Melania was yawning. I honestly don't think either one of them knows how to behave in church. That's probably because they never attend

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
3.2.4  seeder  JohnRussell  replied to  Trout Giggles @3.2.3    2 weeks ago

Trump could have just smiled and said "we all have differing opinions" or something like that. Instead he goes on a tirade about an Episcopalian priest.  He is not a well man, and that is very obvious. But the right has been excusing this crap for over ten years now and it is very difficult if not impossible for them to stop. 

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
3.2.5  Trout Giggles  replied to  JohnRussell @3.2.4    2 weeks ago

The fundamentalists will love him for it. They don't like women "preachers"

 
 
 
Sean Treacy
Professor Principal
4  Sean Treacy    2 weeks ago

And she immediately ran to CNN and now the View to capitalize on her fame. 

Just perfect. 

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
4.1  seeder  JohnRussell  replied to  Sean Treacy @4    2 weeks ago

I guess Trump shouldnt have made her famous then.  He wont learn the lesson though. 

 
 
 
Sean Treacy
Professor Principal
4.1.1  Sean Treacy  replied to  JohnRussell @4.1    2 weeks ago
He wont learn the lesson though. 

Do you think having this fame thirsty woke  preacher go on the view to attack him hurts Trump?  

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
4.1.2  seeder  JohnRussell  replied to  Sean Treacy @4.1.1    2 weeks ago

I dont know, you are complaining about it. 

 
 

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