Irish Church leaders praise Washington bishop for ‘courageous’ Trump sermon

“I am not going to apologise for asking for mercy for others,” said Bishop Mariann Budde after her sermon at the national prayer service following the inauguration.

Church leaders in Ireland expressed support for the Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Edgar Budde over her comments at a church service following President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (AMRI), which represents over 150 male and female Catholic Religious congregations, orders and societies on the island of Ireland, wrote to Bishop Budde thanking her for her “courage in publicly conveying the truth, grounded in the Gospel, that reminds us all of our duty of care”.

Bishop Budde angered President Trump by challenging him in her sermon at the prayer service in Washington’s National Cathedral to show empathy to “the people in our country who are scared now”, including immigrants and members of the LGBTQ community.

The 65-year-old mother of two told the US leader that “the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals”, but are “good neighbours” who pay taxes and are also “faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara and temples”.

“I ask you to have mercy, Mr President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away,” she said.

But President Trump demanded an apology for the comments. Posting on the Truth Social platform, the US president described Budde as a “so-called bishop” and said her tone was “nasty”. He criticised her sermon as “not compelling or smart”.

Referring to the churchwoman as a “radical left hard line Trump hater” who is “not very good at her job”, he said she “brought her church into the world of politics in a very ungracious way”.

Republication Senator Mike Collins from Georgia said on the social media platform X that Budde should be deported.

However, Bishop Budde told Time magazine, “I am not going to apologise for asking for mercy for others.”

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At a Mass in Co Louth to mark St Brigid’s Day, Bishop Michael Router, an auxiliary in the Archdiocese of Armagh, described Bishop Budde’s sermon as “forthright and courageous”.

He said the reaction to it was “a wake-up call to all of us on the challenges inherent in trying to live out our Christian faith in today’s fractured world”.

Recalling the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America, he said there was a lot of coverage of everything that was said and done that day and in the days after.

“However, much of the controversy came from an unexpected source. At a service to pray for the new president on the day after the inauguration, Bishop Marianne Edgar Budde of the Episcopalian Church, called on President Trump to show mercy and to have compassion on those who were most vulnerable in society – people whom she claimed where scared,” Bishop Router said.

He said it was also in many ways a standard sermon about the basic Christian principles of loving one’s neighbour and about being charitable and generous in our dealings with those less fortunate. 

“What was remarkable, however, was the reaction to what was said. Bishop Budde was referred to as ‘nasty’, and one member of the House of Representatives even called for the bishop, a native of New Jersey, to be put on the list for deportation.”

He added: “It is amazing the negativity that a simple, sincere statement of Christian beliefs can engender. It is a wake-up call to all of us on the challenges inherent in trying to live out our Christian faith in today’s fractured world.”

Meanwhile, in a letter seen by The Tablet signed by AMRI’s Secretary General, Gerard Gallagher, and AMRI’s Justice, Peace and Ecology Coordinator, Toni Pyke, the representatives of Ireland’s Religious orders and congregations said that despite their ageing profile, members remain committed to social justice, peace and the integrity of creation.

“We, as many around the world, are stunned by the escalating global challenges that are taking place under chaotic circumstances, which impact on the most marginalised. We are also saddened by the political and economic strategies of elites who manipulate the truth for personal gratification.”

The letter said AMRI wished to thank Bishop Budde for her courage “in publicly conveying the truth, grounded in the Gospel, that reminds us all of our duty of care.”

It continued: “This is particularly commendable when pleaded directly at forces focused on creating further division, fear and blame.”

“We stand in solidarity with those living in fear today in America, as you note in your powerful sermon, and pray along with you for peace and a positive shift in policy.”

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