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AP investgation: Catholic Church the may be largest recipient of US Covid aid funding - SteveG - 02-04-2021
Sitting on billions, Catholic dioceses amassed taxpayer aid
https://apnews.com/article/catholic-church-get-aid-investigation-39a404f55c82fea84902cd16f04e37b2
summary:
https://apnews.com/article/small-business-public-health-health-coronavirus-pandemic-philanthropy-db3872b0e7885c324592e49f84c9b2f9
So far, Congress has committed nearly $1 trillion in relief. An investigation by The Associated Press found that the Roman Catholic Church, one of the world’s largest institutions, was perhaps the biggest beneficiary.
Catholic entities received about as much as the combined total of faith-based recipients from the four religions with the next largest amounts: Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Jewish. Catholic institutions also received many times more than other major U.S. nonprofits with charitable missions, such as the United Way, Goodwill Industries and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Overall, Catholic organizations got nearly twice as much as 40 of the largest, most well-known charities, AP found.
QUESTIONS OF NEED
Those large dollar amounts were possible because, from bishops and cardinals on down, the nation’s dioceses promoted the paycheck program.
One pastor told AP that leaders at his diocese’s headquarters kept pressing him to get what one called “free money” for the church he leads. The pastor declined on what he described as moral grounds — he knew the program was supposed to help employers who, without the money, might close forever.
Although need was a key element of the paycheck program, the money had to circulate quickly. So instead of the usual scrutiny, this time applicants for government aid simply signed that they needed the money. AP found that Catholic dioceses that got the taxpayer-backed aid were sitting on well over $10 billion in cash, short-term investments and other liquid assets heading into the pandemic — an amount that only hints at their total wealth.
The financial resources of some dioceses rivaled or even exceeded those available to companies traded on stock markets, like Shake Shack and Ruth’s Chris Steak House, whose early participation in the program triggered outrage. Many corporations returned the funds.
THE CASH CATASTROPHE THAT WASN’T
When the coronavirus forced parishes to close their doors last spring, losing in-person Sunday collections as a result, church leaders predicted a staggering financial blow.
Instead, AP found mounting evidence that the financial strength of dioceses remained robust — or even improved. That evidence came from audited financial statements that many of the nation’s nearly 200 dioceses post online. The financials give a snapshot of each diocese’s health as of June, several months into the pandemic.
In all, 38 of the 47 dioceses that already have posted their 2020 financials increased the cash, short-term investments and other funds they and their affiliates could use for general or unanticipated expenses. The pattern held whether a diocese was big or small, urban or rural, East or West, North or South.
At the nine dioceses that recorded declines in the fiscal year ending in June, the drops typically were less than 10% and still left them with millions of dollars on hand.
CHURCH RESPONDS
Catholic leaders told AP their parishes and schools suffered financially when they closed to slow the spread of the deadly virus. Without Paycheck Protection Program funds, they said, they would have had to slash jobs and curtail their charitable mission just when demand for food pantries and social services was spiking.
“We experienced a very steep and sudden revenue loss with no sign on the horizon that things would improve,” a spokeswoman for the Chicago Archdiocese said in response to questions.
The archdiocese had more than $1 billion in cash and short-term investments in its headquarters and cemetery division as of May — enough to cover about 631 days of operating expenses, according to a review by the independent ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service. Chicago’s parishes, schools and ministries accumulated at least $77 million in paycheck protection funds.
In Los Angeles, archdiocesan spokeswoman Adrian Marquez Alarcon told AP the pandemic triggered “significant impact,” leading to wage cuts and layoffs of parish staff, musicians and wedding coordinators.
Parishes, schools and ministries there collected at least $80 million in paycheck protection aid. That came at a time when the headquarters reported $658 million in available funds in the fiscal year when the coronavirus arrived.
Re: AP investgation: Catholic Church the may be largest recipient of US Covid aid funding - Acer - 02-05-2021
So?
Re: AP investgation: Catholic Church the may be largest recipient of US Covid aid funding - SteveG - 02-05-2021
Acer wrote:
So?
perhaps they are not the small main street businesses this legislation was intended for.
Unethical...especially for a centrally organized religion. (Fraud, perhaps?)
Re: AP investgation: Catholic Church the may be largest recipient of US Covid aid funding - Lux Interior - 02-05-2021
Why shouldn't they benefit from all the taxes they paid into the syst...
...oh.
Re: AP investgation: Catholic Church the may be largest recipient of US Covid aid funding - bfd - 02-05-2021
They should all be paying taxes if they take government aid … otherwise, pass the collection plate.
Re: AP investgation: Catholic Church the may be largest recipient of US Covid aid funding - C(-)ris - 02-05-2021
bfd wrote:
They should all be paying taxes if they take government aid … otherwise, pass the collection plate.
Apply that equally to every non-profit? YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc? All of them took COVID money to float. Not sure how a church is any different than any other charitable organization.
Re: AP investgation: Catholic Church the may be largest recipient of US Covid aid funding - RgrF - 02-05-2021
Apply that equally to every non-profit? YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc? All of them took COVID money to float. Not sure how a church is any different than any other charitable organization.
AFAIK United Fund and other non-profits don't sell a bill of goods or demand obedience from their end users, so yes there is a difference.
Re: AP investgation: Catholic Church the may be largest recipient of US Covid aid funding - bfd - 02-05-2021
C(-)ris wrote:
Not sure how a church is any different than any other charitable organization.
Then you need to learn…
Re: AP investgation: Catholic Church the may be largest recipient of US Covid aid funding - cbelt3 - 02-05-2021
FWIW Catholic Charities is an enormous charitable / social care organization, often with excellent ratings in Charity Navigator. "Sitting on billions" is a rather common theme, but is not the case on a structural basis.
Now compared to 'prosperity gospel' "Christian" Organizations who got lots of cash as well...
Just remember that if the social care network in the US had not been politically eviscerated through years of Republican abuse, these NGO's would not be needed.
Re: AP investgation: Catholic Church the may be largest recipient of US Covid aid funding - TheCaber - 02-05-2021
"A Thousand Points of Light".
"Help me here; I'm not good at the vision thing." -- Geo. H. W. Bush - R