The Bishop Of Candourberry

The Archbishop of Canterbury has crowned most English monarchs over the past 1,000 years. But when Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde gave the Sermon at President Trump’s Inaugural prayer service she created a new history in plain speaking, inspiring R Rajagopal, Editor at Large of The Telegraph to describe her as The Bishop of Candourberry. In other words, the high priest of candour. Rajagopal also wonders in this article, sourced from his social media posts, why the Indian media was reluctant to cover this act of bold assertion of truth with the gravity it deserved.

Kashmir to Kanyakumari is a cliche. But it worked yesterday (Wednesday, 22 January 2025) when I received several forwards featuring Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s appeal in public to President Trump. 

“I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” said Bishop Budde, the leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives.”

The direct appeal to Trump, at the start of the first full day of his presidency, was a remarkable moment. Twenty-four hours after he had reclaimed the highest office in the land, summoning tech billionaires as witnesses and pulling off a sweeping display of power by signing a flurry of executive orders, he was suddenly confronted by an extraordinary act of public resistance from an unlikely source: a soft-spoken Bishop,” The New York Times reported. (The NYT has published an interview with the Bishop on 22 January)

Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde gave the sermon at the inaugural prayer service in connection with President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The service was held at the National Cathedral in Washington.

She directly confronted President Trump, who was sitting nearby with Vice President JD Vance. The speech has got worldwide attention and even President Trump has responded, rather viciously.

Here’s the text of her speech:

President Trump’s response:

A senior Indian journalist posted a video clip of the Bishop’s speech and added : “This is almost as unbelievable as it’s real! This is what Trump had to listen to in silence yesterday. I wish we had people who could address our leaders as boldly and bluntly.”

As the forwards flew thick and fast from multiple journalists, I asked another journalist I respect: “What are the chances of most newspapers in India reproducing a New York Times or Reuters story on this tomorrow and feeling very pleased with themselves instead of doing a story on their own and asking the Bishops who met (Indian Prime Minister) Narendra Modi during Christmas whether they would tell Modi in public what Budde told Trump?”

“Remote,” he replied. 

Even that — and three decades of cynicism bagged in journalism — did not prepare me for what awaited me in the morning newspapers. Not one of the nine newspapers had the story on Page 1. None of them had the story above the fold in even the foreign page. Some newspapers did not report it at all. The Times of India was the only newspaper I saw which had a mention with a picture as part of a chart on Page 1. 

Stunned, I asked a columnist what would have prompted such a response in newsrooms when journalist after journalist was tweeting about the Bishop less than 24 hours ago. 

“Mystery to me too,” the columnist replied. 

By then I was convinced that I had become a dinosaur in journalism, getting excited about a story that was not even considered reportable by some of the finest editors in the country. 

Clutching at straws, I asked a young digital reporter what he thought. He replied that the Indian media is obsessed with an Indian angle and hence, the Ghar Wapasi (as cartoonist Satish Acharya brilliantly drew today) story is more important.

I accept that. But why do we have to black out a story or bury it somewhere just because there is another important story? Many newspapers are no longer worried about the layout and they pack as much as possible on Page 1, transforming it into a minefield and making it difficult to discern which story is more important. So, tossing the Bishop into the cauldron would not have been all that impossible as far production constraints are concerned.

Besides, there indeed was an Indian angle. Just before Christmas, 200 Indian citizens had issued a statement: “It’s surprising that despite the growing persecution of Christians, prominent members of the Christian hierarchy have chosen to engage with Prime Minister Modi, who has been criticized for his inaction in protecting the rights of Christians. Mr Modi has been seen in recent days with members of the hierarchy at Christmas programmes. He is being invited on 23 December 2024 by the CBCI (Catholic Bishop s’ Conference of India) at a Christmas celebration in New Delhi.” 

“We see this as an attempt by senior institutional leaders of the Christian community to legitimise the government’s inaction on Christian persecution. We call upon the Christian leadership to voice these concerns and hold the Prime Minister as head of the government accountable for the protection of Christians in India. Symbolic gestures do little to address the issue of hatred generated against the community, and the resultant targeted violence, harassment, arrests, and incidents of ostracization in several parts of the country.”

Mar Andrews Thazhath, president of the Catholic Bishop s’ Conference of India, did say later: “We didn’t invite a BJP leader to the event. We invited the Prime Minister of India. We thanked him for attending the event. At the same time, we appealed to him to take the country forward by following the basic tenets of the Constitution and including people of all faiths such as Christians and Muslims in the process.”

The Indian Express had then quoted an unnamed member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) as saying that the Arch Bishop ’s message was a toned-down version of concerns raised by pastors, priests and Bishop s across the country. Manipur was not touched upon — either by the Bishops or the Prime Minister — although sections of the clergy wanted it to be raised, the newspaper had reported. An Orthodox Bishop had called out the Prime Minister but on social media.

Which makes Bishop Budde’s appeal to Trump — made to the President’s face— all the more relevant for India. And she was not speaking about religious minorities but for the children of all scared communities. 

An excerpt from the Inaugural Sermon:

How could editors whose hearts bleed for any sign of injustice anywhere under the sun ignore this? I have absolutely no idea. I wonder how a page with the two pictures — Bishop Budde telling it as it is to Trump’s face and local Bishops meeting Modi — side by side would have looked. Would Max Amini have headlined each picture as “Budde” and “Buddies”?

Saving grace

What many editors did not do, cartoonist EP Unny did today. The Express cartoon on Jack Robinson is extraordinary — and it makes devastating use of the asterisk. In 16 words, Unny has conveyed what would have taken 700 words for a Page 1 to say: the irony (if not poetic justice) of Himanta Biswa Sarma’s thrust on citizenship papers coming home to haunt many Indians in America! This is the story Indian newspapers should have done today.

The citizenship snake turning back and biting the hand that feeds it. As always in history, the sword arm of satire picks up the weapon when soldiers flee the battlefield. Then the battlecry Hooyah becomes Hoo-hahaha. Economic, effective and eviscerating. 

This article is sourced from R Rajagopal’s social media posts.