USCCB reacts to SCOTUS recognition of Catholic Charities as religious organization

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reacted to the US Supreme Court’s unanimous decision Thursday to recognize Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, as a religious organization, expressing gratitude for the ruling.

“The Wisconsin Supreme Court badly erred when it concluded that Catholic Charities is essentially secular because it does not engage in activities such as proselytism. I am grateful for the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court,” Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend stated in a news release. Bishop Rhoades is the chairman of the USCCB’s committee on Religious Liberty.

CatholicVote previously reported that Catholic Charities had asked for a religious tax exemption from Wisconsin’s unemployment compensation program to join a different program offered by Wisconsin’s bishops. However, the Wisconsin Supreme Court had denied Catholic Charities the exemption, ruling that because it serves everyone regardless of faith, it was not primarily a religious organization.

The US Supreme Court disagreed in a 9-0 ruling June 6, stating that the Wisconsin Supreme Court had violated the First Amendment by discriminating against Catholic Charities.

In the release, Bishop Rhoades called the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s original ruling against Catholic Charities “ludicrous” and affirmed the importance of Catholic Charities and its religiously motivated mission in society. 

“Catholic Charities carries out ministries of the Catholic Church, the body of Christ, in the world today,” he said. “Through Catholic Charities, the Church feeds the hungry and clothes the naked. The Church engages in these activities in obedience to Jesus, informed by millennia of tradition from the Apostles.”

He later added, “The Court has unanimously affirmed that the government cannot discriminate against our ministries simply because they do not conform to the government’s narrow idea of religion. I am grateful the Court has recognized that basic principle here.”