The bishop of Washington, D.C.’s Episcopal diocese on Tuesday denounced President Trump for a lack of “moral leadership” after he visited a church that was burned by rioters on Sunday.
Trump’s visit to St. John’s, a historic church across the street from the White House, “did not serve the spiritual aspirations or the needed moral leadership that we need,” Rev. Mariann Budde told NBC. Budde, who administers Episcopal life within the D.C. metropolitan area, added that she was “outraged” that Trump would visit the church but not pray.
“He took the symbols sacred to our tradition and stood in front of a house of prayer in full expectation that would be a celebratory moment,” she said on Monday. “There was nothing I could do but speak out against that.”
Trump on Monday made his first appearance outside of the White House as protesters gathered in Lafayette Park. Secret Service dispersed the crowd with tear gas to make way for Trump, who walked over to St. John’s to visit the church, boarded up after the fire.
Before Trump visited the church, D.C. police removed an Episcopal priest and a seminarian from the property’s patio, according to the priest.
“They turned holy ground into a battleground,” Rev. Gini Gerbasi, the church’s rector, told Religion News Service.
Gerbasi, who said she got tear gas in her eyes, criticized the White House for removing her without warning that Trump was going to stand out front.
“That’s what it was for: to clear that patio so that man could stand in front of that building with a Bible,” she said.
Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, also criticized the visit in a statement and asked that leaders respect the memory of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man killed by police over Memorial Day weekend.
“This was done in a time of deep hurt and pain in our country, and his action did nothing to help us or to heal us,” he said. “We need our president, and all who hold office, to be moral leaders who help us to be a people and nation living these values.”
St. John’s, along with several other churches across the country, was damaged in widespread violent protests.
