Update January 12th: Don’t miss Leo Hohmann’s expanded news on the Bishop’s Migration Week, here.
Just now when I was writing about Catholic Charities crowing about the Somali Muslims they are placing in Minnesota, I came across this news. Sheesh! And, I almost missed it. If you are a Catholic you are likely being bombarded this week (January 8th -14th) with propaganda about welcoming the stranger.
Longtime readers know that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is one of the nine major federally employed refugee resettlement agencies in the US. Here the Crux tells us the Bishops are the largest of the nine:
Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is the largest private refugee resettlement agency in the United States and has helped to resettle more than one million refugees since 1975.
Nearly 80 Catholic Charities agencies across the country are involved in refugee resettlement work, helping refugees with housing, legal services, language proficiency, trauma counseling and employment training. [Implying that this is all done with Christian charity!—ed]
If you want to, you can read the rest of the Crux’s glowing report on what the good Bishops are doing on immigration, here.
What is missing from this long story is any mention of the MILLIONS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS the Bishops receive to do their work!
And, guess what I learned! The Bishops don’t file an IRS Form 990 (no wonder we haven’t been able to find one). That is the tax form that non-profit organizations must file every year which is of vital importance for citizens to understand how their money is used and what salaries are paid.
The Bishops say they are a PRIVATE refugee agency (I say they are a quasi-government agency), but then use the religious exemption to avoid reporting to the IRS!
Because we can’t get a Form 990, we have had to rely on the USCCB Migration and Refugee Service’s annual report, but unfortunately the most recent one available (that I can find) is for 2014. But, you get the gist of it—they get millions from you. And, frankly, if they would be honest with the public and their parishioners about these vast amounts of government funding, I will shut up about it.
Here is the breakdown of their income for 2014:
Now just to impress upon you how much money the Bishops are getting from the US treasury, here (below) is a screenshot of one small portion of the list of grants and contracts they have gotten in recent years at USASpending.gov.
In the last few years the total is over $200 MILLION in grants, subgrants and contracts. And, that is just what went directly to the Bishops (when doing your own search, spell out United States Conference of Catholic Bishops).
It doesn’t include government grants and contracts for individual dioceses. You will have to look those up separately and find more pots of money.
So come on Bishops! Fess-up! Tell your loyal Catholic flock that this Migration and Refugee Services isn’t being funded by them, through their Christian charitable giving, but by the taxpayers of America!
And, it begs the question, when it comes down to taking moral stands on controversial social issues, will the USCCB choose government funding if it comes down to a choice between a moral stand or millions of free bucks?