Could this be the end of Christian support for President Trump?
President Trump caused a major firestorm on Tuesday night when Secret Service Police used smoke bombs to dispense a crowd of peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square, outside the White House
The unprovoked attack came just minutes before Trump walked across the square to St. John’s Episcopal Church–the historic church that had been burned by looters on Sunday night.
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington–which controls St. John’s Church–slammed the President for his actions, and said she hadn’t even been told Trump would visit the church.
“Let me be clear: The president just used a Bible, the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and one of the churches of my diocese without permission as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that our churches stand for,” Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde said, to CNN.
“And to do so,” she added, “he sanctioned the use of tear gas by police officers in riot gear to clear the church yard. I am outraged.”
Things didn’t get any better on Tuesday morning… when President Trump announced he would visit the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Northeast Washington, DC.
The Catholic Archbishop of Washington, Wilton Gregory, issued an eviscerating statement–slamming both the President and the Shrine itself.
“I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misued and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree,” wrote Gregory.
He continued, “Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace.”