MINNEAPOLIS (RNS) — Almost exactly a year ago, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, stood in a pulpit in front of the newly inaugurated President Donald Trump and preached a sermon that called on the commander in chief to have “mercy” on immigrants and other communities.
The sermon quickly drew backlash from the president himself, who called her “a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who called her message “radical.”
But if Budde’s message was radical, it’s one that has resonated nonetheless. A year later, she stood in another church in Minneapolis, this time surrounded by an array of clergy who represented the hundreds of faith leaders who flocked to the city this week to protest the administration’s mass deportation campaign.
“In our varied and united faith traditions, love of neighbor is not optional,” Budde declared.
The bishop sat down with Religion News Service shortly after that appearance on Thursday (Jan. 22) to reflect on the year that has passed since her barn-burning sermon and on what she expects will be even more faith-based activism on behalf of immigrants.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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