Episcopalian Mariann Budde at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 21, 2025.
Posted on 02/03/2025 12:17:45 PM PST by ebb tide
LEICESTER, United Kingdom – An Irish bishop praised an Episcopalian bishop whose homily to U.S. President Donald Trump was called “very ungracious” by the American leader.
Auxiliary Bishop Michael Router of the Archdiocese of Armagh was speaking on Feb. 1 at the Shrine of Saint Brigid at her birthplace in Faughart in the Republic of Ireland. Saint Brigid, who lived approximately from 450 to 525, is one of the patron saints of Ireland
Last week we watched, with interest, the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America,” the bishop said.
“There was of course a lot of coverage of everything that was said and done that day and in the day’s after. However, much of the controversy came from an unexpected source,” he continued.
“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,” Router said.
On Jan. 21, Budde gave the sermon at the national prayer service at Washington National Cathedral.
She said “the culture of contempt that has become normalized in our country threatens to destroy us.”
Episcopalian Mariann Budde at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 21, 2025.
“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 who fear for their lives,” Budde said.
“And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” she continued.
“Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. 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 once strangers in this land,” Budde added.
After the Jan. 21 service, Trump said he “didn’t think it was a good service” and “they could do much better.”
Later on the internet, he called Budde a “so-called Bishop” and 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,” Trump said.
Speaking on Feb. 1, Router said Budde’s words were “a forthright and courageous sermon to give, but it was also in many ways a standard sermon about the basic Christian principles of loving one’s neighbor and about being charitable and generous in our dealings with those less fortunate.”
Bishop Michael Router, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Armagh. (Credit: Catholic Communications Office.)
“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,” the Irish bishop said.
“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,” he said.
Router compared Budde’s homily with the works of Saint Brigid, saying they echoed the principles that underscored the Irish saint’s life, such as caring for the poor, lightening everyone’s burden, and comforting those who are suffering.
“Brigid and her community took it upon themselves to care for the sick and destitute, embodying Christ-like mercy in their actions,” the Irish bishop said.
“Brigid’s approach to healing was inseparable from her sense of justice. She did not merely tend to wounds, or weakness, but sought to address the inequalities that left people vulnerable in the first place. Her acts of charity and service echoed Christ’s call in the scripture to love our neighbors as ourselves. This integrated view of compassion and justice is a striking contrast to the normal situation, in the past and even in the present in many societies, where vulnerable people often face neglect or sometimes even hostility,” he said.
Turning to Ireland, he said the gap between policy and practice “often reveals a shortfall in compassion.”
“The Government of Ireland’s promises, though well-intentioned, require consistent effort and accountability to ensure they achieve their intended outcomes,” Router said.
“For instance, addiction to drugs and alcohol is a serious problem now on this island, but unfortunately many families are left in fear and isolation to deal with the issue alone without the support and treatment interventions that are necessary to resolve their difficulties,” the bishop said.
He said Saint Brigid’s care for those in need was not just about alleviating immediate suffering but about affirming the inherent dignity of those who sought her help.
“Modern society must adopt a similar approach, recognizing that working for justice is an essential element of true compassion,” Router said.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
Both Protestants and Catholics have to clean house to remove the hedonist left infestations.
REASON #387 why my forebears became Quakers.
Whatta douche.
Pope Francis announced that he will write an apostolic exhortation on the theme of children, following a high-level Vatican conference on children’s rights. Given his record on handling abuse cases, such a document will likely be heavily scrutinized.
I won’t lie to you, I t’ll take some time and effort, but I believe it can be accomplished.
I forgot to remove the extra I, my mistake.
He’s dancing on the TRAP Door of HELL!
If you take the leftwing stooges out of the mainline churches, you won’t have much left to call a church.
I believe we're already experiencing the next great awakening, we just can't see it because we're in it. The Episcopalian denomination that the leftist hag (who preached at Trump) is in is wonderfully losing members. As are other leftist "churches". While the more evangelical ones are gaining. And look at the Methodists choosing to have entire local congregations leave the hedonist teaching denomination to join the new, more Bible centered, Methodist conference.
And just like in prior great awakenings, the cause begins with the profane became too much and the normals push back. Parents getting arrested at school board meetings wanting to clean out the hedonism is very similar to abolitionists getting beat up and sometimes arrested during the 2nd great awakening (and its push to end slavery which was sometimes overtly brutal). The first great awakening was in part a response to the first sexual revolution that began in the 17th century. I've read that homosexuality was somewhat common in London with men openly holding hands walking down the sidewalk until the first and second great awakenings.
The first great awakening was largely about a return to piety (John Wesley called it "holiness", I call it "live it like ya mean it"). While Catholics had been trying too hard not to be like Protestants (the Counter Reformation, i.e. the lifting up of Papal supremacy and the rule from the Council of Trent that Latin and Greek were the only authorized European translations of the Bible), Protestants also tried too hard to be different from Catholics. Because us Protestants believe that we can't earn our way to Heaven, unfortunately a lot of early Protestant leaders taught that works don't matter at all. They said that the more we sin, the more it shows God loves us (Paul warned us in Romans 6 not to go down that rabbit hole). The first great awakening, just like our current awakening, is a return back to setting value to living holy lives and being different from the brazen world.
The second great awakening had to deal with the mantra "It's not a person, it's property." Just like the current great awakening is having to argue against "It's not a person, it's just a clump of cells."
We (the Catholic Church) started out with 11 Apostles ... and the Blessed Trinity. Small is no problem. We’ve been there before ... We have Our Lord’s solemn promise: The Gates of Hell WILL NOT prevail.
Ireland is filled with dregs, after all the best Irish came to America.
A lot of us here in America can probably look back across the Atlantic and be glad that our ancestors got on a boat ...
Mine got out after the Progroms, and from Germany in 1937.
My family tree is a bit complicated; some arrived in the early XIX Century, the most recent in the early XX Century.
I have gone from proud to puLED TO ANGRY TO EMBARRASSED TO BE IRISH.
They are feckless worms I want noting to do with despite being from the same Collins family as Michael.
The Irish Church is lost. Mostly because of bad priests and Bishops.
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