"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy", advice from Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde

 My substacks article:  Immigrants in American religious institutions

American history was witnessed during the Martin Luther King holiday and the January 20th inauguration ceremonies in Washington DC.

Perhaps one of the most newsworthy incident happened in the unexpected place inside the beautiful National Cathedral, where a religious tradition was observed with the newly elected president.

Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde led an interfaith service in the National Cathedral. Her message from the pulpit went viral because she left her clerical “comfort zone” for the purpose of including the subject of “mercy” for immigrants into her prepared spiritual message.

Bishop’s brave statements spoke truth to power in front of the new American president who was seated in the front pews with other administration leaders. Her message brought to my mind how immigrants have been essential to building the religious infrastructure in American cities.

In particular, Maine’s Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston was built by Franco-American immigrants who contributed to the beautiful structure even during the middle of the Great Depression. (The church was finished on July 18, 1936, and was dedicated on October 23, 1938 in Lewiston Maine)

New York City’s Saint Patrick’s Cathedral was built by poor European immigrants, while a good deal of money for the expensive structure was donated by a Haitian slave who accumulated some wealth as a hairdresser.


Although many of the newer city’s Catholics were poor Irish immigrants, there were also German, French, and African American Catholics. Among the more noted members of the Saint Peter’s and original Saint Patrick’s faith community was Haitian immigrant Pierre Toussaint.

His contributions helped make the building possible. Born July 25, 1766 (d. in 1853), Pierre Toussaint is the first non-clergyman to be buried in the crypt at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City…

Toussaint used his wealth for various philanthropic causes and helped finance the construction of the first St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, New York.

Bishop Budde’s inauguration liturgy brought to my mind how immigrants sacrificed to create American churches and religious institutions. Reported in Religious News Service (RNS) by Jack Jenkins:

WASHINGTON (RNS) — On the morning of the presidential inauguration, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde pretty much had the structure of her sermon for the next day finished. The Episcopal bishop of Washington had ruminated on it ever since she was announced in October as the preacher for the interfaith prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral that traditionally concludes the presidential inauguration festivities.

Bishop Budde decided to focus on three values she believes are important for national unity: honoring the inherent dignity of every human being, honesty and humility.

But as she watched Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday (Jan. 20) and the executive orders he signed immediately after, she realized she needed to add something else.

“I found myself thinking, there’s a fourth thing we need for unity in this country — we need mercy,” she told RNS in an interview on Wednesday.

“We need mercy. We need compassion. We need empathy. And after listening to the president on Monday, I thought, I wasn’t going to just speak of it in general terms.”

The result was a sermon, delivered from the cathedral’s pulpit on Tuesday morning as President Trump and Vice President JD Vance sat quietly just a few feet away, that pleaded with the president to have “mercy” on people who stand to be disproportionately impacted by his administration’s policies — namely, LGBTQ people and immigrant families.

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde said. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in both Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives.”

She also made a plea for immigrants and refugees, a reference to Trump’s promise to enact sweeping deportations and his executive order stopping almost all refugees from entering the country starting Jan. 27. The majority of immigrants, Budde said, are not criminals, but “people who pay taxes, and are good neighbors.”

“The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde was elected in 2011, by clergy and lay leaders of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington to serve as their 9th bishop,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “She was ordained in November of that year, and has served as a bishop in good standing since that time. She is a valued and trusted pastor to her diocese and colleague to bishops throughout our church. We stand by Bishop Budde and her appeal for the Christian values of mercy and compassion.”

Faithful Americans can proudly point to immigrants for their sacrifices and contributions to our religious institutions. As Bishop Budde called on the president to have mercy on the suffering immigrants and other minority groups, we can be consoled by instructions given to us in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the merciful” is the fifth beatitude found in the Bible, specifically in Matthew 5:7, which states “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”. This means that those who show mercy to others will also receive mercy from God.