The bishop asked President Trump publicly to “have mercy,” electrifying some liberal churchgoers in an era dominated by conservative versions of Christianity.

If you know what people are thinking about when they’re coming into church on Sunday morning, it’s very important to acknowledge that,” Budde says.

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde isn’t afraid to speak truth to power. Unlike almost everyone else in President Donald Trump’s orbit these days. And she has no plans to apologize for asking Trump to show mercy on the people he has terrorized in his first days back in power.

The Virginia Theological Seminary released a statement Friday in support of alumna Bishop Mariann Budde after she received conservative pushback for comments this week during the National Cathedral’s inaugural prayer service for President Trump.

The Episcopal bishop of Washington spoke with NPR to discuss her sermon addressing President Trump and why she asked him to have mercy.

President Donald Trump Wednesday demanded an apology from the Episcopal bishop who criticized his hardline policies on immigration and LGBTQ rights at the National Prayer Service on his first full day back in the White House.

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde drew President Trump’s ire Wednesday morning after she used a National Catheral prayer service to issue a call for mercy against members of the LGBTQ and immigrant communities.

( The Hill) — Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde called on President Trump to have mercy on transgender children and immigrant families at a National Cathedral prayer service for the inauguration Tuesday, which went viral and prompted the president to call her “nasty in tone” and “not compelling or smart.”