The Bishops’ Lament: Losing Tax Money and Losing Public Support
The U.S. Catholic bishops met in New Orleans last week. I read an account of this meeting in the National Catholic Reporter last week, and two things struck me.
One, the bishops are really worried that they might lose the lucrative contracts they get from the federal government because of their increasingly out-of-step views on issues like LGBT rights and access to birth control.
A lot of people aren’t aware of this, but Catholic Charities basically would not exist if it were not for you the taxpayer. About 62 percent of the organization’s budget comes from government sources.
Every now and then, a government official has the temerity to actually try to bring some accountability to that money. An elected official or a bureaucrat might mandate, for example, that employees at taxpayer-funded Catholic groups receive contractive coverage or that LGBT Americans be served alongside everyone else.
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