'I ask you to have mercy': Bishop of Washington pleads with President Trump

Australian Community Media

Bishop of Washington Mariann Edgar Budde spoke directly to President Trump and VP Vance at a National Prayer Service at Washington's National Cathedral, asking for compassion on behalf of illegal migrants and LGBTQI+ people.

Transcript

00:00Let me make one final plea, Mr. President.

00:11Millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday, you have

00:16felt the providential hand of a loving God.

00:24In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are

00:32scared now.

00:36There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent

00:43families, some who fear for their lives.

00:49The people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor

00:56in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants

01:01and work the night shifts in hospitals, they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation,

01:11but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.

01:15They pay taxes and are good neighbors.

01:19They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, wadara, and temples.

01:29I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear

01:34that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones

01:39and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.

01:47Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers

01:57in this land.

02:03May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being,

02:09to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God

02:17for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world.

02:26Amen.

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