This major religious denomination broke with Trump over resettling white South Africans

Yahoo

13-05-2025

The Episcopal Church has severed a four-decade-old relationship with the federal government, citing its moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa the Trump administration had declared refugees.
The hearty 'nee' ('no' in Afrikaans) from the religious denomination marks an extraordinary act of protest. The Episcopal Church long had participated in resettling refugees fleeing persecution and war in their home countries, Religion News Service reported.
In a letter to the church community, the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe — the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church — said the government informed the church two weeks ago that it was expected to resettle the white South Africans under the terms of its federal grant, the wire service reported.
The church, through its Episcopal Migration Ministries, has resettled some 110,000 people over the last four decades
That was a bridge too far for the church, a part of the global Anglican Communion, whose ranks once included the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who fought apartheid in South Africa.
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'In light of our church's steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step,' Rowe wrote. 'Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government.'
Rowe told his fellow believers that it had been 'painful to watch one group of refugees, selected in a highly unusual manner, receive preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years.'
'I am saddened and ashamed that many of the refugees who are being denied entrance to the United States are brave people who worked alongside our military in Iraq and Afghanistan and now face danger at home because of their service to our country,' he continued. 'I also grieve that victims of religious persecution, including Christians, have not been granted refuge in recent months.'
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Some 60 white South Africans arrived in the United States on Monday, with President Donald Trump arguing that they faced violence and persecution in their home country, according to published reports.
'Through this resettlement program for these folks who were vetted in South Africa, we're sending a clear message that the United States really rejects the egregious persecution of people on the basis of race in South Africa. And we welcome these people to the United States and to a new future,' Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told to the refugees who gathered in a hangar in Washington, D.C.
Trump signed an executive order in February decrying what the White House described as discriminatory practices against South Africa's minority white population.
The order comes even as the White House has executed sweeping actions to remove undocumented immigrants from the global south, sometimes scooping up permanent U.S. citizens in its net.
South African religious leaders, including some Anglicans, sharply criticized the government's policy in a sternly worded letter.
'The stated reasons for (Trump's actions) are claims of victimisation, violence and hateful rhetoric against white people in South Africa along with legislation providing for the expropriation of land without compensation,' the religious leaders wrote, according to Religion News Service. 'As white South Africans in active leadership within the Christian community, representing diverse political and theological perspectives, we unanimously reject these claims.'
In his letter to the church community, Rowe, meanwhile, said the church would find other ways to support refugees arriving in the United States.
'As Christians, we must be guided not by political vagaries, but by the sure and certain knowledge that the kingdom of God is revealed to us in the struggles of those on the margins. Jesus tells us to care for the poor and vulnerable as we would care for him, and we must follow that command,' Rowe said. 'Right now, what that means is ending our participation in the federal government's refugee resettlement program and investing our resources in serving migrants in other ways.'
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