The White House slammed the Episcopal Church on Tuesday for its shocking decision to abandon its long-standing refugee partnership with the federal government, just because the latest refugees in need are white.
The controversy erupted after the church’s presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Sean Rowe, announced in a sanctimonious open letter that the denomination would refuse to help resettle white Afrikaner families from South Africa, despite their documented persecution, farm murders, and political targeting under the post-apartheid regime.
Instead of offering compassion, the Episcopal Church, chose to wrap itself in the language of “racial justice” and walked away from helping victims of violence and displacement simply because they weren’t politically convenient.
According to the letter:
“Since January, the previously bipartisan U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in which we participate has essentially shut down. Virtually no new refugees have arrived, hundreds of staff in resettlement agencies around the country have been laid off, and funding for resettling refugees who have already arrived has been uncertain.
Then, just over two weeks ago, the federal government informed Episcopal Migration Ministries that under the terms of our federal grant, we are expected to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees.
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. 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.
[…]
It has 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. I also grieve that victims of religious persecution, including Christians, have not been granted refuge in recent months.
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. 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.”
Even more hypocritical, just last year, the Episcopal Church proudly bragged about aiding illegal immigrants who broke U.S. immigration laws.
But when the federal government legally classifies 59 white Afrikaners as refugees under international standards, suddenly the church wants nothing to do with it.
So much for compassion. So much for justice. So much for Christianity.
Read more:
Sean Rowe defended his decision not to resettle South African refugees during an interview on CNN, claiming, “This is really about people who have jumped the line.”
WATCH:
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe defends his refusal to resettle South African refugees: “This is really about people who have jumped the line.”
“We can’t be ourselves as the church, as the people that Jesus has called us to—which is the most vulnerable—and take the… pic.twitter.com/D5yzyE3Mva
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 15, 2025
Deputy White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly didn’t mince words when speaking to The Daily Signal:
“The Episcopal Church’s decision to terminate its decades-long partnership with the U.S. government over the resettlement of 59 desperate Afrikaner refugees raises serious questions about its supposed commitment to humanitarian aid.
“Any religious group should support the plight of Afrikaners, who have been terrorized, brutalized, and persecuted by the South African government.
“The Afrikaners have faced unspeakable horrors and are no less deserving of refugee resettlement than the hundreds of thousands of others who were allowed into the United States during the past administration.”
“President [Donald] Trump has made it clear: refugee resettlement should be about need, not politics.”
