As Easter approaches on April 20, 2025, faithful Christians worldwide are using the holy season of Christ’s journey from sacrifice to resurrection to demand protection for vulnerable people around the world — and justice for marginalized people in the U.S.
The National Council of Churches sent a Lenten letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, himself an evangelical Christian, urging him to remember Christ’s teachings and use his power to protect innocents in Gaza.
Repairers Of The Breach, a faith organization led by activist Bishop William J. Barber II, led an Ash Wednesday protest march to the Capitol and the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.
The bishop delivered a letter calling on the nation to “address the negative effects of the Trump administration’s executive orders, the budget plans in Congress and efforts to obtain personal information of the public, which directly impacts the poor and working people.”
In a story on the Religion News Service website, Jack Jenkins reported that the crowd included “Jewish, mainline Christian and Black Protestant clergy in full vestments carrying the open letter calling for repentance and activism. Barber criticized the Trum administration’s efforts to undermine the 14th Amendment and pass a budget that includes dramatic cuts to programs including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
“We write today because we are clear that the only way that wannabe kings can be kings is if we bow,” Barber said.
“But bowing is not in our DNA. It is not in our souls, it is not in our spirits, and we will not bow. What they are about to do with the budget is the most dangerous thing that’s going on in this country right now.
“We know the people of this country. We have blessed their babies, listened to their confessions, buried their dead, and celebrated the values they hold dear. Our political leaders have bowed in fear to the tyranny of technology; by doing so, they have ceased to represent us.”
The Rev. Amanda Hendler Voss, pastor of the First United Church of Christ in Washington, said with conviction, “This administration says, ‘America first,’ but Jesus said, ‘What you do to the least of these, you do unto me.’”
“This administration calls migrants criminals, but the Bible says, ‘Love the migrant among you, for you were once strangers.’ This administration says only the strong survive, but the Good Book says God chose what is weak in this world to shame the strong. So don’t get it twisted: The acts of this administration have nothing to do with the way of Jesus.”
Sojourners, another faith-based nonprofit in Washington, is continuing a series of vigils at the Capitol for peace and justice. The Faithful Wednesday Witness events, in conjunction with the Washington Interfaith Staff Community and dozens of partners, began on Ash Wednesday, March 5.
Sojourners President Adam Russell Taylor said in an email that the U.S. “faces an escalating constitutional crisis fueled by the Trump administration’s overreach and unconstitutional actions.”
Failing leadership in the Republican-controlled Congress “has allowed this crisis to grow, as it cedes its role as a co-equal branch of government,” he said. “The faith community has a unique opportunity to raise a prophetic and pastoral call, urging Congressional leaders to act.”
Christ’s selfless example seems more relevant than ever at a time when the Trump administration is making draconian cuts to government — hacking away at global and domestic programs intended to help the sick, the poor and people of color. Meanwhile, women, children and civilians are dying in Gaza with bombs and bullets made in America.
“God never tires of forgiving us,” Pope Francis has said. “We are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.”
The National Council of Churches held an ecumenical prayer online seminar to focus on lament, repentance, and renewal. But it also reached out to Rubio, the nation’s top diplomat, calling on him to heed the Bible’s call for justice and compassion — even for the least of these.
“The Christian faith teaches, ‘From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded,’” the letter stated. As Christians, “our shared values compel us to help and not hurt the most vulnerable in our midst, which includes our global neighbors.”
It is “astounding and shameful” for the U.S. to abandon its responsibilities and commitments as a protector around the world, according to the letter. Instead, it states, the government is complicit in harming “the most vulnerable in the world, withholding life-saving food and medicine from children.”
The letter is referring to Israel’s decision to block humanitarian aid to Palestinians as a negotiating tactic in its war with Hamas in Gaza.
This story originally appeared here.