In a prayer service on Tuesday for the new president at the National Cathedral, the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Washington, D.C., took the opportunity to ask President Donald Trump for mercy for immigrants and the LGBTQ community.

The reactions have been stark, and mixed.

“Millions have put their trust in you and, as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God,” Bishop Mariann Budde said. “In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives. The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They…may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurudwaras and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away.”

After the service, Trump, who sat in the front pew along with his wife, Melania, Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha, reacted to reporters who asked about the sermon: ‘Did you find it exciting? Not too exciting was it? I didn’t think it was a great service. They can do much better.’

On social media, the bishop’s message got both resounding support from Trump opponents and criticism from Trump supporters.

It hit a nerve, with some saying it reflected Jesus’ teachings about helping the poor and outcast, while others questioned the political tone of it.

This morning, Trump went on his social media site, Truth Social, to demand an apology from Bishop Budde.

“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” he wrote. “She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. 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!”

Bishop Glenda Curry, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama and a colleague of Bishop Budde, said today she had heard snippets of the sermon but didn’t think it was fair to weigh in on it.

“I know her; she’s a colleague and a friend,” Curry said. “I’m cautious about commenting on what somebody else said because I didn’t hear the whole sermon. Overseeing the National Cathedral’s a big thing.”

Curry said she knows what it’s like to be a target of critics. “I’ve had my own challenges at the Cathedral (Church of the Advent in Birmingham),” she said.

“I always have sympathies for the gospel,” she said. “I didn’t hear the whole thing. I don’t know the context.”

Bishop Budde is a respected colleague, Curry said. “She’s been a really good, able, capable colleague, lovely to work with,” Curry said. “Other than that, I don’t want to comment on somebody else’s sermon.”

Budde ended her message with a further request.

“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President,” she said. “That you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people. Good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.”