After Lobbying, Tax Exempt Catholic Church Received Over $1.4 Billion In Tax Funded Pandemic Relief
'After lobbying, Catholic Church won $1.4 billion in coronavirus aid,' CBS News/AP, July 10, 2020. - Excerpts, Ed.
The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups. The church's haul may have reached- or even exceeded- $3.5 billion, making a global religious institution with more than a billion followers among the biggest winners in the U.S. government's pandemic relief efforts, an Associated Press analysis of federal data released this week found.
Houses of worship and faith-based organizations that promote religious beliefs aren't usually eligible for money from the U.S. Small Business Admin. But as the economy plummeted and jobless rates soared, Congress let faith groups and other nonprofits tap into the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a $659 billion fund created to keep main street open and Americans employed. By aggressively promoting the payroll program and marshaling resources to help affiliates navigate its shifting rules, Catholic dioceses, parishes, schools and other ministries have so far received approval for at least 3,500 forgivable loans. The NY Archdiocese received 15 loans worth at least $28 million just for its top executive offices..In Orange County, CA, where a sparkling glass cathedral estimated to cost over $70 million recently opened, diocesan officials working at the complex received 4 loans worth at least $3 million..
Religious groups persuaded the Trump administration to free them from a rule that typically disqualifies an applicant with more than 500 workers. Without this preferential treatment, many Catholic dioceses would have been ineligible because- between their head offices, parishes and other affiliates- their employees exceed the 500-person cap. "The government grants special dispensation, and that creates a kind of structural favoritism," said Micah Schwartzman, a Univ. of Va. law professor specializing in constitutional issues and religion who has studied the Paycheck Protection Program. "And that favoritism was worth billions of dollars."
The amount that the church collected, between $1.4 billion and $3.5 billion, is an undercount. The Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, an organization of Catholic financial officers, surveyed members and reported that about 9,000 Catholic entities received loans.."Truly in need" There is no doubt that state shelter-in-place orders disrupted houses of worship and businesses alike. Masses were canceled, even during the Holy Week and Easter holidays, depriving parishes of expected revenue and contributing to layoffs in some dioceses. Some families of Catholic school students are struggling to make tuition payments..But other problems were self-inflicted. Long before the pandemic, scores of dioceses faced increasing financial pressure because of a dramatic rise in recent clergy sex abuse claims. The scandals that erupted in 2018 reverberated throughout the world...
Read More, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/catholic-church-coronavirus-aid-lobbying/
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-'Tax Exempt Catholic Church Has Received At Least $1.4 Billion In Tax Funded Pandemic Relief,' Daily Kos,
https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/tax-exempt-catholic-church-has-received-at-least-1-4-billion-in-tax-funded-pandemic-relief/
..In the fiscal year ending in June 2019, AP reports, Catholic dioceses and orders paid out $282 million in settlements and legal costs in thousands of abuse cases. There were almost 4,500 reports of abuse that year. About 40 of the dioceses who received these PPP loans are among those who’ve paid out millions over the last few years in victim settlements and in bankruptcy proceedings. These several dozen dioceses got at least $200 million in loans. These loans are 100% forgivable. It’s unclear if they can use that money to recompense themselves for all the money they spent lobbying to get the loans.
Just one archdioceses, Los Angeles, spent $20,000 lobbying Congress to make sure that nonprofits and churches could get the loans. Catholic Charities USA spent $30,000 lobbying for it, and in return it and its member agencies got more than 100 loans, from $90 million to at least $220 million. Again, many of these charities are doing important relief work in this crisis, but whether these tax-exempt institutions should be getting taxpayer money to do that relief—given the net worth of all of the arms of the church—is a big question.
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