Who is the bishop called by Trump a “radical leftist” after plea for mercy

by Andrea
0 comments

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, whose direct appeal to President Donald Trump on behalf of immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community made headlines on Tuesday, was also publicly critical of Trump during his first term.

Budde, 65, is the first woman to serve as spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and has led the diocese since 2011.

Before moving to Washington, she spent nearly two decades as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis. She is an alumna of the University of Rochester in New York State and grew up partly in New Jersey and partly in Colorado. She enjoys cycling around Washington.

Continues after advertising

Read more:

Since last summer, his diocese, which includes the National Cathedral, had planned to host a prayer service the day after the inauguration, regardless of who won the presidency. No matter the outcome, she intended to preach, she said.

In 2020, Budde wrote an op-ed in The New York Times saying she was “outraged” and “horrified” by Trump’s use of the Bible, which he held loudly at St. John’s Church after police officers used tear gas on racial justice protesters in nearby Lafayette Square. She wrote that Trump had “used sacred symbols” while “advocating positions antithetical to the Bible.”

Continues after advertising

On Tuesday, she again had a message for Trump.

With the president sitting at the front of the church, she ended her sermon by asking him “to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared right now.”

She cited LGBTQ+ people and immigrants — apparently responding to the president’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and dismantle federal protections for transgender people.

Continues after advertising

The bishop said unity requires honesty, humility and recognizing the dignity of all human beings by “refusing to mock, disregard or demonize.”

Trump looked down. Vice President JD Vance, sitting nearby, raised his eyebrows.

“I ask that you have mercy, Mr. President,” she said, adding, “We were all once strangers on this earth.”

Continues after advertising

Trump didn’t seem to enjoy the service. Later in the day, he told reporters it wasn’t “very exciting.”

“They could do a lot better,” he added, apparently referring to the service organizers.

In a phone interview, Budde declined to comment on Trump’s reaction to the service.

She said she was “not necessarily calling out the president,” but that she decided to make her appeal “because of the fear” she saw in Washington’s immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities.

She wanted Trump to “keep in mind people who are scared,” she said.

“I was trying to say: The country has been entrusted to you,” he added. “And one of the qualities of a leader is mercy.”

But she also hoped her remarks would resonate far beyond Trump’s ears, she said.

A little more than half the country now expresses some support for deporting all immigrants living in the United States illegally, according to a recent poll from the The New York Times e Ipsos.

And Budde said he felt there was a shift in the “license” Americans felt to be “really quite cruel.”

“I wanted to remind all of us that these are our neighbors,” she said.

c.2024 The New York Times Company

Source link

You may also like

Our Company

News USA and Northern BC: current events, analysis, and key topics of the day. Stay informed about the most important news and events in the region

Latest News

@2024 – All Right Reserved LNG in Northern BC