“One month after President Trump ordered the nation’s governors to immediately reopen churches, his administration is facing a difficult dilemma,” Politico reports.

“Clusters of Covid-19 cases are surfacing in counties across the U.S. where in-person religious services have resumed, triggering questions about whether his administration should reassess its campaign to treat houses of worship the same as other essential businesses, or leave them alone and risk additional transmission of the deadly coronavirus — including in communities that are largely supportive of the president.”

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, condemned President Trump for clearing out peaceful protesters with rubber bullets and tear gas in order to stage a photo op in front of her church in a CNN interview.

Said Budde: “I am outraged… Everything he has said and done is to inflame violence. I am beyond. We need moral leadership, and he’s done everything to divide us, and has just used one of the most sacred symbols of the Judeo-Christian tradition.”

She added: “I just can’t believe what my eyes have seen tonight.”

The Washington Post described Budde as “seething.”

“A sudden shift in support for President Trump among religious conservatives is triggering alarm bells inside his reelection campaign,” Politico reports.

“The anxiety over Trump’s standing with the Christian right surfaced after a pair of surveys by reputable outfits earlier this month found waning confidence in the administration’s coronavirus response among key religious groups, with a staggering decline in the president’s favorability among white evangelicals and white Catholics. Both are crucial constituencies that supported Trump by wide margins in 2016 and could sink his reelection prospects if their turnout shrinks this fall.”

“The polls paint a bleak picture for Trump… One GOP official said the dip in the president’s evangelical support also appeared in internal party polling.”

“More than 1,200 California pastors say they will resume in-person services on May 31 in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the new coronavirus,” CBS San Francisco reports.

“Newsom has gradually allowed some businesses to reopen as the state’s number of virus-related hospitalizations has flattened. But churches are still banned, along with hair salons and sporting events.”

Guidance for reopening houses of worship amid the coronavirus pandemic has been put on hold after a battle between the CDC and the White House, which was resistant to putting limits on religious institutions, the Washington Post reports.

Fox News: “A livestream from Life Tabernacle Church on Sunday showed Tony Spell walking among more than 100 congregants, often repeating the phrase, ‘I’ve just got to get to Jesus… Come on America, let’s get back to Jesus.'”

“Nearly all parishioners were not wearing face masks, and social distancing was not being practiced.”

“Televangelist Pat Robertson agreed that abortion and same-sex marriage are partly to blame for the novel coronavirus that has caused massive social and economic upheaval in the U.S.,” the HuffPost reports.

“The 90-year-old Christian Broadcasting Network founder suggested that God won’t end the coronavirus pandemic until people ‘turn from their wicked ways.'”

A new Pew Research poll finds 49% of Americans say the Bible should have at least “some” influence on U.S. laws, including 23% who say it should have “a great deal” of influence.

Among Christians, 68% want the Bible to influence U.S. laws at least some, and among white evangelical Protestants, this figure rises to 89%.

“Pope Francis and Christians around the world marked a solitary Easter Sunday, forced to celebrate the most joyful day in the liturgical calendar amid the sorrowful reminders of the devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic,” the AP reports.

“Families who normally would attend morning Mass in their Easter best and later join friends for celebratory lunches hunkered down at home. Police checkpoints and closed churches around the globe forced the faithful to watch Easter services online or on TV.”