Washington bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, who had asked US President Donald Trump during a sermon to "have mercy" on migrants and LGBTQ children, has said that she will not apologise for her remarks.
“I am not going to apologise for asking for mercy for others,” Budde said in an interview with Time magazine.
Mariann Budde gave Trump a public dressing-down during a customary inaugural service at the Washington National Cathedral, which was attended by the president, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and second lady Usha Vance.
"I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away," Budde told Trump, who was seated in the church's front pew on Tuesday. “I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”
The bishop's remarks came a day after Trump signed executive orders to suspend the arrival of asylum seekers and expel undocumented migrants from the country. He had also decreed that only two sexes – male and female – will be recognised.
Trump later criticised the bishop, calling her a “radical left hard-line Trump hater” on his Truth Social site on Wednesday.
‘It was a pretty mild sermon’
{{/usCountry}} Trump later criticised the bishop, calling her a “radical left hard-line Trump hater” on his Truth Social site on Wednesday.
‘It was a pretty mild sermon’
{{/usCountry}} In her interview with magazine, Mariann Budde, whose sermon video went viral, said she has “heard from many people who are grateful that someone was willing to speak on their behalf” as well as those who “have said they do wish me dead, and that's a little heartbreaking.”
“I hope that a message calling for dignity, respecting dignity, honesty, humility and kindness is resonating with people. I'm grateful for that. I'm saddened by the level of vitriol that it has evoked in others, and the intensity of it has been disheartening,” she said.
On a question about Trump saying that she is not good at her job, Budde said that it is for other people to judge that and that Trump is certainly entitled to his opinion.
“…It was a pretty mild sermon. It certainly wasn't a fire and brimstone sermon. It was as respectful and as universal as I could with the exception of making someone who has been entrusted with such enormous influence and power to have mercy on those who are most vulnerable,” she told Time.
Who is Mariann Edgar Budde?
Mariaan Edgar Budde serves as the spiritual leader for 86 Episcopal congregations and ten Episcopal schools in the Columbia district and four Maryland counties.
According to her bio page on the Episcopal Diocese of Washington's website, Budde is the first woman to be elected to this position.
She also serves as the chair of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, an organization which oversees the ministries of the Washington National Cathedral and the cathedral schools.