The current immigration clash between the Trump administration and the U.S. Catholic bishops has highlighted a fundamental conflict between Church and State that has existed since the first time U.S. bishops accepted a government grant nearly a century ago. The ultimate cost of this conflict to the reputations of our Catholic bishops and their network of Catholic charities is yet to be fully realized. One thing is for certain, however. It will take years for the U.S. bishops to restore people’s trust in Catholic charitable organizations.
When governments forcefully extract money from taxpayers and then redistribute it to non-profits, this is not charity. It actually results in the destruction of charity. Our Catholic faith informs us that true charity begins with a conversion of heart, prompted by the Holy Spirit, to exercise an act of mercy by supporting others in need. Governments do not have a heart – people do.
So called “government charity” erects a wall between the contributors and the recipients, such that neither party benefits spiritually from the transaction. When contributors and recipients interact directly, the contributor gains a sense of wellbeing through their charitable act and the recipient has the opportunity to feel and express gratitude. Government intervention in this transaction can create a sense of resentment on the part of the contributor and a sense of entitlement on the part of the recipient. Neither party benefits spiritually.
Creeping government intrusion into charitable giving not only deprives the individual of an opportunity for spiritual conversion, but also can result in the hardening of people’s hearts. After all, if government is supporting charitable organizations with our tax dollars, many people can develop the attitude of “I gave at the office.” Worse still, those organizations operating on the government dole are forbidden to use that opportunity to evangelize, which is the entire mission given to the Church by Christ Himself.
When charitable organizations accept government funds, they can become dependent upon government for their ongoing existence. The average Catholic Charities organization today relies upon government for 60 to 65% of their annual funding needs. And some chapters are significantly more dependent. In 2023, government grants comprised 94% of revenues for Catholic Charities of Fort Worth. Catholic Charities of Chicago was not far behind with 72% of their revenues coming from government agencies. Even the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) were reliant upon the government for 53% of their operating revenues in 2023.
It’s a sad fact, but many of our Catholic charitable organizations would cease to exist if government funding was suspended tomorrow. This raises the obvious question as to what extent the core values and beliefs of our Catholic charitable organizations have been compromised due to their dependency on government funding.
Why were U.S. bishops reluctant to condemn the numerous anti-Catholic policies enacted by the Biden administration? Why did not a single bishop stand-up and demand the end to the illegal invasion occurring at our southern border? Not one bishop had the courage to declare that an open border is a violation of national sovereignty and a moral hazard. Could it have been due to the fact that Catholic agencies received more than $2.9 billion for immigration-related services under the Biden administration? And to what extent does this make our bishops complicit in the repercussions resulting from this criminal policy?
A Proposed Solution
A possible solution could lie in enacting a two-fold policy change which could be phased-in over time. First, government agencies must get out of the charitable giving business. Charity is a faith-based virtue that belongs in the realm of religion. Secondly, charitable organizations must be weaned-off their dependency on government funding.
The Trump administration could help facilitate this transition by incrementally replacing federal funding of charitable organizations with tax credits (instead of tax deductions) to incentivize individual giving directly to charitable organizations. In doing so, we would not only benefit from invigorating the spiritual dimension of charitable giving, we would eliminate an entire level of government administration dealing with the collection, redistribution and reporting on government charitable funding. There would also be the elimination of a level of administration within the charitable organizations themselves, which currently expend a significant effort in writing grant applications and ensuring compliance with grant awards. And the risk of charitable organizations becoming beholden to the changing priorities of new government administrations would be eliminated.
Over time, government subsidies would be replaced by individual giving which enable a spiritual conversion of heart. Instead of becoming dependent upon the federal government, our bishops should rely on God’s grace to equip them with the resources they need to practice their works of charity.
If this type of policy had been in place over the past 10 years, the immigration scandal now facing our U.S. bishops would have likely been avoided. Our bishops would have also been freer to offer fraternal correction to President Biden. As it stands today, the scandal created by Catholic charities receiving government funds to enact unjust policies has scarred the reputation of the Catholic Church in America for years to come. There needs to be a change in course in how the government and the Catholic Church interact to restore trust in both arenas.