Episcopal Bishop Casts Aspersions At Trump But Overlooks Abuse In Her Church, Charges Watchdog Group

During a prayer service on January 21  at the National Cathedral of the Episcopal Church USA in Washington' DC, Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde confronted President Donald Trump as he and Vice President J.D. Vance and Trump's families sat in the front pews. 

"Let me make one final plea, Mr. President," Bishop Mariann Budde said in her 15-minute sermon. "Millions have put their trust in you. And 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," said Budde as she gazed at the president. "There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives," said Budde, who has long criticized the incoming president.

"The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors," said Budde. Coming to a close, she said, "I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. And that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land." Trump later told the press that he was not impressed by the sermon.

Budde has since refused to retract her comments. Speaking to NPR's All Things Considered, she said, "I decided to ask him as gently as I could to have mercy...how dangerous it is to speak of people in these broad categories, and particularly immigrants, as all being criminals or transgender children somehow being dangerous."

"To be united as a country with so many riches of diversity, we need mercy. We need compassion. We need empathy. And rather than list that as a broad category, as you heard me say, I decided to make an appeal to the president," she said.

She told The View interviewer Joy Behar: "My responsibility that morning was to pray with the nation for unity. And as I was pondering what are the foundations of unity I wanted to emphasize respecting the honor and dignity of every human being, basic honesty, and humility."

In response, Eric Bonetti of Anglican Watch (a watchdog group which denounces abuse and misconduct in the Episcopal Church and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion) stated, “We endorse Bishop Budde’s call to treat all persons with dignity and respect, including those in marginalized communities. Further, we believe that doing so is consistent with the message of the Gospels, which is to love thy neighbor as thyself."

“That said, we are concerned that Bishop Budde may be overlooking her own role in perpetuating injustice. We note, for example, that Bishop Budde has repeatedly ignored complaints from victims of abuse within the Episcopal Church."

“She also has ignored our repeated requests to remove from office a person on the board of the National Cathedral School, whom we believe has made his money via his role in the American 'enhanced interrogation' program, which focused on Muslims and many believe to involve torture," he continued.

“Anglican Watch repeatedly contacted Bishop Budde directly about these matters but did not receive a response. We also contacted the school’s Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion about these issues but were ignored. “We believe that others will take Bishop Budde’s message about the need to act with integrity and mercy most seriously when she addresses those issues of injustice within her own control,” Bonetti concluded.