FACT CHECK: No, This Woman Is Not A Catholic Bishop

A post shared on X claims that the woman who asked President Donald Trump to “have mercy” on LGBT people and immigrants was a Catholic bishop.

Trump just got CALLED OUT to his face by a Catholic Bishop! Hit the ❤️ and RETWEET to thank her for calling Trump out! Follow us 👉 @occupydemocrats @Poptivism_ Call to action 👉 SHARE THIS‼️ #DonaldTrump #Trump #Bishop #Bishopbudde #JDVance #MAGA #MAGACultMorons #Trump2025 pic.twitter.com/PilFbEtwEB

— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) January 22, 2025

Verdict: Misleading

She is a member of the Protestant Episcopalian community.

Fact Check:

Mariann Edgar Budde, the leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, asked Trump to “have mercy” on LGBT people and immigrants during an interfaith prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, according to the Catholic News Agency.

Social media users are claiming that Budde is a Catholic bishop, One user’s post partially reads, “Trump just got CALLED OUT to his face by a Catholic Bishop!” (RELATED: Were All Charges Dismissed Against Andrew and Tristan Tate in November?)

Budde is not a Catholic bishop. She is a member of the Protestant Episcopalian community and is the community’s leader in Washington D.C., according to her page on the Washington National Cathedral’s website. She has led the community in the Washington D.C. area since 2011.

The Catholic Church does not ordain women as priests or bishops, according to Catholic Answers. St. Pope John Paul II wrote in 1994,”I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”

Pope Francis said that a woman cannot be ordained as a member of Catholic holy orders, whether that it has a deacon or a priest, in a May 2024 interview with CBS News.