Donald Trump and his allies are widening their attacks on religious groups compassionate toward immigrants, refugees, the poor and LGBTQ people.
The Catholic and Episcopal churches have faced the heat from the MAGA movement for some time and are again in the crosshairs of an administration bent on quashing dissent about its aggressive anti-immigrant and anti-transgender policies. More recently, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has caught right-wing flak for its service to refugees legally admitted to the U.S.
In 2015, Doug Page (right), pastor of First Baptist Church of Grapevine, Texas, prays over Ken Paxton during a church service.
Conservative anger toward the Roman Catholic Church has been simmering for years, most notably in Texas, where state Attorney General Ken Paxton last year attempted to shut down shelters and other ministries devoted to serving migrants. He initiated litigation and accused the organizations of smuggling and human trafficking.
In a May 2024 interview with CBS News, Pope Francis described the state’s efforts to close the border and close Catholic ministries as “madness, sheer madness. The migrant has to be received, thereafter you see how you are going to deal with them, maybe you have to send them back, I don’t know, but each case ought to be considered humanely.”
“Anti-Catholic rhetoric has amped up noticeably since Trump returned to office.”
But anti-Catholic rhetoric has amped up noticeably since Trump returned to office last month and issued multiple executive orders enhancing border security, ending asylum and initiating a campaign of mass detentions and deportations.
Three days after Trump’s inauguration, the migration committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops took issue with a directive allowing immigration raids in churches, schools and other sensitive locations and explained that helping those in need, including migrants, is the “nature” of the church.
“We recognize the need for just immigration enforcement and affirm the government’s obligation to carry it out in a targeted, proportional and humane way,” the bishops said. “However, non-emergency immigration enforcement in schools, places of worship, social service agencies, health care facilities, or other sensitive settings where people receive essential services would be contrary to the common good.”
Catholic health care and relief organizations, in addition to other social service ministries and parishes, will continue to educate, feed, house and meet the needs of the marginalized nationwide, the bishops continued. “Turning places of care, healing and solace into places of fear and uncertainty for those in need, while endangering the trust between pastors, providers, educators and the people they serve, will not make our communities safer.”
Vice President JD Vance with Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” Jan. 26 (Screencap from CBS)
The MAGA backlash was swift. In a Jan. 26 interview on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Vice President JD Vance said the Catholic bishops’ comments about Trump’s immigration policies were motivated by greed.
“As a practicing Catholic, I was heartbroken by that statement. And I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?”
“Turning places of care, healing and solace into places of fear and uncertainty for those in need … will not make our communities safer.”
Vance also insinuated the church has looked the other way on human trafficking in its immigration ministries, saying the church has failed to be a faithful partner in “common sense” immigration efforts. “If they’re worried about the humanitarian costs of immigration enforcement, let them talk about the children who have been sex trafficked because of the wide-open border of Joe Biden.”
Michael Flynn
Then it was Michael Flynn’s turn. The former Trump adviser and adamant election denier took to X to attack Catholic Charities for carrying out Biden-era immigration policies with millions in federal grants its chapters have received across the country.
“This organization is ripping off American taxpayers,” he said. “And please take notice that most of these ‘Catholic Charities’ are located in areas that are represented by members of Congress who oppose President Trump and his agenda.”
The solution, Flynn added, is for the U.S. Senate to quickly confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Department of Health and Human Services so he can “crush these organizations ripping off American taxpayers and likely supporting child sex and slave trafficking.”
Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C., meanwhile, drew attention to the National Cathedral and the denomination with an inaugural sermon imploring President Trump to have mercy on migrant workers, LGBTQ children and others who “are scared now.”
Trump kicked off the flood of vitriolic responses the following day with a Truth Social post calling Budde “a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” “ungracious” and “nasty in tone and not compelling or smart.”
He followed up by noting she did not mention his repeated — and unfounded — claims of undocumented immigrants being released from jails and mental intuitions to commit murders across the nation. “It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA. Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”
Others thought so, too. “Attended national prayer service today at the Washington National Cathedral during which Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde insulted rather than encouraged our great president @realDonaldTrump. There was palpable disgust in the audience with her words,” Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Dallas, said on X.
Rob Pacienza
Rob Pacienza, MAGA activist and senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida, said Budde promoted a “secular worldview and woke agenda” in her sermon. “True unity can only be achieved through a commitment to the whole counsel of God, not the cultural assimilation her sermon reflected. This is indicative of the heresy that has taken over mainline Protestantism. Commitment to biblical truth, not the spirit of this age, is the only hope for our nation.”
U.S. Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., took it a step further by introducing House Resolution 59 to express “the sense of the House of Representatives that the sermon given by the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde at the National Prayer Service on January 21, 2025, at the National Cathedral was a display of political activism and condemning its distorted message.” The measure has been referred to the House Oversight Committee.
The ELCA ventured into the fray Jan. 20 when its refugee resettlement arm, Global Refuge, expressed concern about Trump’s decision to suspend refugee admissions at least 90 days.
“The refugee program is not just a humanitarian lifeline through which the U.S. has shown global leadership. It represents the gold standard of legal immigration pathways in terms of security screening, community coordination, and mutual economic benefit,” the Lutheran statement said.
“Today’s decision is a drastic contradiction of what it means to be an American.”
The action also sets a poor example for the international community, the statement added. “The U.S. has long been a beacon of hope, leading the world in refugee resettlement. While no country alone can address an unprecedented global displacement crisis, this decision signals to other nations that they too can step back from our shared humanitarian obligations.”
Less than a week later, the organization, formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, condemned the administration’s decision to build barriers at the southwest border and to increase detention of migrants seeking entry into the U.S.
“At a time when so many people are fleeing unspeakable violence and persecution to seek refuge in the U.S., today’s decision is a drastic contradiction of what it means to be an American. As the world has its eyes on us, it is imperative that President Trump uphold the values that America has always lived by: compassion, empathy, family, human rights, and protection for those seeking a safe haven from danger and persecution.”
Again taking to social media, Flynn questioned the faith of the Lutherans: “Now it’s the ‘Lutheran’ faith (this use of ‘religion’ as a money laundering operation must end): Lutheran Family Services and affiliated organizations receive massive amounts of taxpayer dollars, and the numbers speak for themselves. These funds, total BILLIONS of American taxpayer dollars.”
Global Refuge and similar organizations are “cashing in on our hard-earned money” with federal grants administered before Kennedy’s anticipated leadership of HHS, he added. “It’s time to hold these organizations accountable. American taxpayers deserve transparency. Enough is enough!”
Jeff Brumley serves as senior news writer for Baptist News Global and lives in Jacksonville, Fla.
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