By M L Satyan
Coimbatore, Jan 26, 2025: The video of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde has gone viral in the social media. The woman bishop from the United States showed courage to express her plea to President Donald Trump.
Trump attended a church service at Washington National Cathedral on the next day of assuming the office. Bishop Budde used her sermon to deliver a pointed message to the new president.
“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. 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.
There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families — some who fear for their lives. The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labour in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals.
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 neighbours. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear 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. May God grant us the strength and courage to honour the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God, for the good of all people — the good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.”
The first woman to serve as the spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, Bishop Budde had a message for President Trump during his first term, too.
In a Truth Social post Trump wrote, “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.
She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA. Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her Church owe the public an apology!”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also took aim at Budde in comments to Fox News, saying she had chosen to “weaponize the pulpit,” adding that the bishop’s remarks during the sermon “were egregious, and she should apologize to President Trump for the lies that she told.”
But the bishop defended her plea by saying, “I wanted to make, as you heard, a plea, a request that he broaden his characterization of the people that are frightened now and are at risk of losing everything, and I thought that that would be the more respectful way to say it,”
She further said “I wanted to appeal to not only the president, but to all who might be listening, to appeal to what we know to be true about our immigrant neighbour who they are, the kind of people that we’re blessed to be among, and to remember them in our understanding of what it means to be America.”
With conviction she said, “You can certainly disagree with me. You can disagree with what I have said or did. But could we, as Americans and fellow children of God, speak to one another with respect? I would offer the same to you.”
The videos of Bishop Budde appealing to Trump and later defending whatever she said are really inspiring. In 2023 and 2024 the Catholic bishops of India had Christmas celebration with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But none of the office-bearers had the courage to tell him about the continuous attacks on churches, Christians and their institutions in various parts of the country, especially in Manipur. On another occasion some representatives of CBCI met Modi and requested him to invite the Pope to India.
Certain valid questions need to be raised at this stage:
• Why are the Indian Catholic bishops not outspoken like Bishop Budde?
• As representatives of the Catholic community, except one or two bishops, why do other bishops never raise the issues of attacks on Christians and their institutions?
• Why do they remain silent on the burning issues in the country?
• Why do the Catholic bishops lack courage to challenge Prime Minister Modi and the Hindutva ideology propagated by RSS and BJP?
• Why are the Catholic bishops not exercising their prophetic ministry?
• When will the Catholic bishops stop living like frogs in the well?
• Will they come out of their ivory towers and stand with the marginalised people and become the voice of the voiceless?
The CCBI annual plenary meeting will be held in Bhubaneswar from January 28 to February 4. CBCI, CCBI and Regional Bishops’ Councils are held at regular intervals. Ultimately, what is the end result of such meetings? What impact such meetings have on the Catholic community? Are these gatherings just “excursions” for the bishops? What constructive contributions do the bishops make to the country? Transparency and Accountability are lacking.
It is time the bishops did a sincere introspection on the questions raised above. They need to learn a lesson from Bishop Budde and exercise their prophetic ministry with courage and conviction.