(LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic bishop in Ireland praised the left-wing Episcopal “bishop” who hijacked the National Prayer Service last month to push LGBT and open borders talking points.
“It is amazing the negativity that a simple, sincere statement of Christian beliefs can engender,” Auxiliary Bishop Michael Router of the Archdiocese of Armagh said this past Saturday, according to Crux, a left-leaning Catholic media outlet.
Router was referring to the woke sermon Mariann Budde delivered at the National Cathedral the day after Trump was sworn in. Instead of preaching a nonpartisan, uplifting homily, Budde lectured Trump on needing to show “mercy” on illegal immigrants and self-professed “LGBT” people.
Router was speaking at the Shrine of St. Brigid in the Republic of Ireland when he made his remarks. According to Crux, he lauded Budde for giving a “forthright and courageous sermon” while also comparing her comments to St. Brigid herself.
St. Brigid was driven by a “sense of justice” and sought to “address the inequalities that left people vulnerable in the first place,” Router claimed.
St. Brigid was born around 450 and died in 525 in Kildare. She is one of three patron saints of Ireland along with St. Patrick and St. Columba.
Budde’s comments set off a a tidal wave of criticism, not only of herself but of the community she leads.
“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” President Trump said on social media. “The service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job!”
BREAKING 🚨 Donald Trump just exposed the so called “Bishop” who is very Radical and Woke 👏
THIS IS TRUMP AT HIS BEST 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VxB8O4z5nm
— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) January 22, 2025
GOP Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee told Newsmax host Todd Starnes, who described the National Cathedral as a “sanctuary of Satan,” that certain federal events should not take place there anymore.
We should consider moving official federal events away from National Cathedral and to a venue that is less political, @RepHarshbarger tells me. pic.twitter.com/pqnhopg1NZ
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) January 23, 2025
Conservative commentator Jack Posobiec similarly called for Budde’s church to lose its tax-exempt status.
.@JackPosobiec on the Episcopal Bishop at the National Prayer Service:
“The tax-exempt status of the National Cathedral should be revoked until such time as either she is removed, or she is forced to completely apologize for politicizing the National Prayer Service…” pic.twitter.com/mINT2At8GD
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) January 21, 2025
Since 1933, the National Cathedral has hosted 10 inaugural prayer services as well as multiple presidential funerals, most recently Jimmy Carter’s.
The church acts in a similar fashion to Westminster Abbey and other Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, though it is not affiliated with the U.S. government.
In 2023, it announced the installation of stained glass windows to commemorate “our nation’s struggle with the original sins of racism and slavery.” It also runs an “LGBTQIA+” ministry along with other left-wing initiatives.