Undaunted in Faith

Three religious leaders provide inspiration: Pope Leo XIV; Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde; and Pastor Jamal Bryant

In our warped political era, bullies and bigots with the chutzpah to flash their White evangelical Christian credentials get rewarded for vile behavior. The worse they behave, the more attention and power they seem to accumulate

Evangelical Peter Wehner wrote this week: “Many of the people who claim to follow Jesus are instruments of a merciless leader and a merciless movement. They have chosen their political loyalties over their faith, even while using the latter to validate the former. There is something morally twisted and discrediting in this.”

We therefore desperately need reminders of how leaders of true faith should act. Providing a compelling counterpart to religion-spouting hypocrites, three faith leaders stood out this year as undaunted proponents of decency, empathy, and social responsibility.

Pope Leo has certainly met the moment. This year, he castigated xenophobia, challenged hateful rhetoric, and rebuffed phony excuses to ignore the plight of our neighbors. NPR reported on his discussion with journalists in November:

We have to look for ways of treating people humanely; treating people with the dignity that they have. If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts. There’s a system of justice.

Treating people who have been here for decades, he said “in a way that is, to say the least, extremely disrespectful, and with instances of violence, is troubling.” His plea to care for immigrants inspired or impressed upon Catholic interfaith organizations, non-religious community activists, and ordinary individuals to aid and defend their neighbors.

Demonstrating his adeptness on social media, he tweeted after Australia’s massacre on Chanukah: “Today I particularly wish to entrust to the Lord the victims of the terrorist massacre carried out yesterday in #Sydney against the Jewish community. Enough with this antisemitic violence! Let us eliminate hatred from our hearts.”

Pope Leo also consistently spoke out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (even decrying efforts to impose Russia-friendly terms on Ukraine and Europe) and denounced starvation in Gaza. He insisted that concern for the poor get translated into action. “It is my hope, then, that this Jubilee Year will encourage the development of policies aimed at combating forms of poverty both old and new, as well as implementing new initiatives to support and assist the poorest of the poor,” he said. “Labor, education, housing and health are the foundations of a security that will never be attained by the use of arms.”

Pope Leo sounds as if he is directly criticizing Trump, because Trump exemplifies evils that the pontiff decries—neglect of the poor, crass materialism, embrace of violence, and bigotry. While Trump oppresses; the pontiff stands with the oppressed, bringing light and hope to the dark Trump reign.

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In the U.S, Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde of The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington (commonly referred to as the National Cathedral) captured Americans’ attention shortly after the inauguration by telling Trump:

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. And the people, 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, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They, 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.

After reminding Trump these are people of faith, she implored him to “have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and … those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands, to find compassion and welcome here.”

In our interview, I witnessed how Rt. Rev. Budde models grace, humility, and kindness. She affirmed, as Contrarians have grasped, that “courage is contagious.” She continued: “[W]e sort of pass it around to each other when we need it, or you may have it for a day, I may need it tomorrow. It’s communal,” she said. “[T]there is a power that moves through us and allows us to step into that space, and it’s just so encouraging to know that we’re not alone.” As I wrote in January, Rt. Rev. Budde certainly channeled Americans’ fears, but she also provided emotional and spiritual armor to fight for the vulnerable.

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Another religious leader, Pastor Jamal Bryant of Georgia’s New Birth Baptist Missionary Church, also personified faith in action. The Contrarian’s April Ryan interviewed him twice this year. One central topic he spoke about with notable passion was his leadership in the national boycott against Target. While he did not start the boycott, he quickly became the face of the movement responding to Target’s cowardly compliance with Trump’s assault on DEI. “I wanted to bring a spiritual dynamic to it,” he told April. The movement had a stunning impact, inflicting $12B in losses and prompting the CEO’s exit (unfortunately, the COO replaced him), although Target persists in its anti-DEI stance.

Pastor Bryant recently posted on Instagram:

I’m amazed how @target is willing to do everything except the right thing. Making the staff smile won’t do it! Fake sale prices won’t do it! Giving checks to black churches won’t do it! Paying black influencers to post won’t do it and bribing HBCU students with discount cards won’t do it. … We don’t want to hand you violins to play on the Titanic. This is fixable … just do the right thing!

Beyond Target, Pastor Bryant hammered away at the regime’s attacks on history and inclusivity. When Trump replaced Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth with Flag Day/Trump’s birthday as a free day at National Parks, Pastor Bryant blasted Trump’s gob-smacking move. “This is a slap in the face, not just to African Americans but to Americans at large,” he said. “The narcissism unleashed to take it away from Dr. King and laud it upon himself says that America is going backward, is in tremendous danger.”

In sum, when MAGA politicians cloak themselves in religious platitudes while simultaneously spouting hatred toward immigrants, taking SNAP benefits from children, and cheering grandmothers’ deportation, many Americans are desperate for hope, insight, and compassion from authentic religious leaders.

Providing spiritual guidance and inspiration, Pope Leo, Rt. Rev. Budde, and Pastor Bryant showed us that true faith leaders do not oppress or demonize others and certainly do not deify a noxious politician (one whose conduct and rhetoric revolts even other MAGA pols). Whether religious or not, Americans can be grateful for genuinely religious voices who reiterate that faith without deeds is useless and remind us that silence in the face of hateful actions and words is abhorrent. We honor each of them, in addition to all courageous leaders who seek to bring us together.

This will be the last Undaunted of 2025. But check back frequently next week, we will have all sorts of columns, lists, and year-in-review pieces. Happy Holidays to all of you, and all our best for a happy, healthy, and democratic 2026!