Bishop Warns Clergy To Be Ready For a ‘New Era of Martyrdom’ To Protect The ‘Vulnerable’ in The U.S.

(AP Photo/Adam Gray)

An Episcopal bishop has garnered national attention for calling on his clergy to prepare for “martyrdom” as they work to protect the “vulnerable” from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Video of Bishop Rob Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire is being shared far and wide on social media for his words delivered at a vigil honoring Renee Good, shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.

In his speech, Hirschfeld cited historical clergy members who put their lives on the line to protect those at risk of aggressive authoritarianism. He held up seminary student Jonathan Daniels as an example, who was shot and killed by an Alabama sheriff’s deputy while protecting a Black civil rights activist in 1965.

“I have told the clergy of the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness,” Hirschfeld said. “And I’ve asked them to get their affairs in order, to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies, to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.”

The Associated Press recently picked up the story that was also covered on Monday by CNN’s Audie Cornish.

During a panel discussion, Cornish said, “I think what he’s saying is the church is not going to be on the sidelines, that the gap between the bootleggers and baptists, as you said, is going to close as you have more and more people speaking up.”

The Bishop told Jack Jenkins with the Religion News Service that his remarks were “entirely unprepared.”

“The crowd at the assembly was hardly sprawling, but Hirschfeld’s remarks were filmed, clipped and shared widely on social media,” Jenkins wrote. “Amplified by algorithms and word of mouth, his message was heralded by critics of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, as well as by faith leaders who have been protesting Department of Homeland Security agents — sometimes being injured or arrested while doing so — for nearly a year.”

Hirschfeld told Jenkins that all the attention had come as a bit of a shock.

“I’m not telling clergy, ‘Go find a rifle to stand in front of,’” Hirschfeld said. “I’m not saying, ‘Go look for a way to martyr yourself.’ All I’m saying is, when we put on those garments of our Christian faith, they are not always welcomed in this society. Those virtues and those postures in this world can be met with rage and even violence.“

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet Newsletter
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!