Before Christmas I told you about how Leftwing Evangelicals were playing the‘Jesus card’ in Tennessee and I guess because Leftwing Evangelicals are in short supply in Minnesota we have the Leftwing Catholics and Lutherans pressuring local governments to welcome more “strangers” from the third world, but lacking in their demands for Christian charity is any mention of the fact that money is involved!
Governance by contractor is BAD GOVERNMENT!
This entire exercise we have been writing about for weeks is about MONEY-—MONEY for the nine refugee contractors*** that monopolize all refugee placement in America.
Let me say at the outset, that the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program is the ultimate example of bad government!
You simply can’t have taxpayers funding un-elected non-profit groups, many masquerading as ‘religious charities,’ making decisions about which UN-chosen refugees will be placed in your town while spending your MONEY to do their supposed ‘charitable’ work.
And, then adding insult to injury, lecturing us and elected officials about our Christian duties—duties that are not the role of government!
The President’s Executive Order issued in September is the first attempt in forty years to give voice to local elected officials on the issue that will effect all of our pocketbooks—medical care, education, housing, food—to care for tens of thousands of imported poor people. What! No American poor people left to care for?
Rules to get MONEY!
The Executive Order is directly tied to the funding for the nine contractors*** and that is why they are now in high dudgeon—they are fighting tooth and nail for their federal boodle!
If you take a few minutes and read the US State Department’s Funding Guidance, yes Funding Guidance resulting from the President’s reform initiative, you will see that in order for the contractors to get their MONEYfor later in 2020, they must line up support from local governments (and governors).
However, you would never know that this is about MONEYwhen you read the screed being sent around to local elected officials in Minnesota.
Taking care of the “stranger” is the role of Christians, but surely Jesus never expected Caesar to do that job.
I can’t speak for Jesus (like some of these men and women of the cloth believe they can!), but I feel sure he meant for good people to share from their private pocketbooks, and give their private time, not steal from others and call it Christian charity.
But, that is not how the Leftwing Catholics and Lutherans of Minnesota see it! (My comments are in brackets throughout!)
Resettlement policy: Create a welcoming society, not more barriers, for refugees
A message from Catholic and Lutheran bishops in Minnesota. By CATHOLIC and LUTHERAN BISHOPS OF MINNESOTA
December 23, 2019 — 5:43pm
“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25
In this holy season, as we prepare to welcome friends and family into our homes, we are given new reason to reflect on our calling to welcome the stranger. Specifically, what is our calling to welcome immigrants and refugees?
The question has taken on new urgency this year as a result of Executive Order 13888, issued on Sept. 26.
The order requires consent from state and local governments for federal resettlement of refugees in their area.
Consent must be given within 90 days — by Dec. 25.
[Actually no, read the Funding Guidance, they were just telling this little fib to get elected officials signed up quickly because their funding proposals are due in late January and they wanted enough time to write their location-specific proposals so they could get their MONEY without delay—ed].
Author of this polemic is Ronald Pagnucco, Ph.D, Associate Professor Department of Peace Studies, College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University. What! The bishops found a community organizer to write their emotional appeal for MONEY? Do they think that if they dress up the refugee industry in religious garb no one can criticize them? https://www.csbsju.edu/peace-studies/faculty/ronald-pagnucco-phd
The new order seems to unnecessarily politicize what has been a humanitarian program [funded by federal and state taxpayers—ed] rooted in our nation’s long history of resettling families fleeing from life-threatening dangers. We are also troubled by the decision to set a limit of 18,000 refugees in 2020, the lowest number in 40 years.
[Of course they are because when your MONEY from the feds is based on the number of paying clients coming in, aka refugees, there is no incentive to ever take a breather and slow the flow. They have salaries to pay after all!–ed]
We are saddened [Sniff!—ed] that as Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ — who himself experienced life as a refugee when his family fled to Egypt — our nation may be creating even more hardships for vulnerable refugee families. We, the Lutheran and Catholic bishops of Minnesota, invite our members, our political leaders and all of goodwill to prayerfully consider the following reflections.
In our traditions, Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of Jesus both at Christmas and at the end of time.
But it also challenges us to welcome him when he comes to us in other ways, particularly through the people we encounter every day.
[Yeh! Like what about poor Minnesotans?—ed].
Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore imbued with a sacred dignity [so they can be employed in Minnesota slaughterhouses.—ed] we must respect and protect. This is especially true when it comes to the poor and vulnerable.
[Yeh, as I said, like poor Minnesotans.—ed]
We acknowledge that resettlement can bring new challenges for our communities.
That uneasiness is real.
Yet, the world is experiencing the largest displacement of persons in human history. Our nation’s refugee policy is one way to demonstrate our values by following a common moral exhortation in the Bible: to welcome the stranger in our midst.
[As long as we get our federal MONEY-–ed]
We fear the executive order will create further hardship for refugees by delaying the resolution of their cases, dividing extended families and placing additional strains on the resettlement system. While we support local engagement, refugee resettlement agencies are already working closely with state and local officials as well as community stakeholders to facilitate this process, and we foresee a host of practical problems would arise [like their MONEY might be unavailable!—ed] if states and municipalities were given a veto over refugee resettlement.
[This ‘stakeholder’ meeting issue is one of their biggest lies! Across America and especially in Minnesota, citizens are barred from the supposed stakeholder meetings and I have an extensive archive of such episodes here at RRW to prove it.—ed]
We would like to address a few specific groups directly regarding their duties related to this issue:
[The nerve—a lecture from our moral superior!—ed]
To our refugee sisters and brothers: We stand with you as you start new lives in this country. You have escaped terrible situations of persecution and violence, leaving your homes and livelihoods to face an uncertain future. We know you are eager to live in safety with your families, find employment and become integral,contributing members of your local communities. We pledge our support, promise to be your advocates and trust that we will be mutually enriched as we come to know each other’s culture and experiences. We ask you to be patient with those for whom your presence presents a challenge.
[Be patient, we can help you when our MONEY comes in.—ed]
To our elected officials: We thank Gov. Tim Walz for expressing his support of resettlement, indicating that “the inn is not full in Minnesota,” and we ask our mayors and county elected officials to also publicly express support for refugee resettlement.
[If county elected officials say NO, it means the contractor doesn’t get MONEY to place refugees in that county for only a brief period in 2020, from June through September. It is not forever!—ed]
The assistance we offer refugees is repaid through the talents they share and their economic participation in the life of our communities. Rather than posing a threat to our values or our way of life, most refugees seek to build a better life and contribute to the vibrancy of their new homeland. We ask that you become their advocates, too.
Three guesses what they think of your Christian virtue-signalling!
To those who support refugee resettlement: Please don’t demonize those who are opposed.
[Little virtue-signalling by the peace professor.—ed]
We need to build bridges of dialogue instead of walls of resentment.
[These hokey lines just crack me up!—ed]
To our congregations and those of goodwill: Pray for refugees and voice your support for them to our elected leaders. Reflect on ways you or your church congregation can assist them [without being paid to do it!—ed] and other newcomers and how we can together address the fears and misconceptions that are all too common in these situations.
To those who are challenged by the influx of refugees: We invite you to seek to encounter them, learn their stories and work to see them as God sees them — as sons and daughters.
[Sure and you can help them where they live in the world!—ed]
In sum, the reduced cap on the number of refugees [reduced number of paying clients!—ed] as well as the executive order lack the mercy, compassion and justice that are not only called for by the Gospel but that also should be expected from a strong and historically diverse nation.
[Blah, Blah, Blah! who said a diverse nation is a good thing? You Lefties just make up this s*** and expect us to respond like a bunch of bobble-heads—ed]
Although we feel Executive Order 13888 should be rescinded [because we loved the power to change communities of our choosing—ed] the fact remains that the 90-day deadline stipulated in the executive order is Dec. 25 — Christmas. Although the impact [Money flow possibly halted—ed] will not take effect until several months into 2020, it is urgent that our community and elected officials respond right away.
[Because the Catholic and Lutheran contractors in Washington must get their funding applications filed in late January! There is no urgency on the part of governors and county governments! Make them sweat!–ed]
We can and must do better to create a welcoming society for those most in need.
[So do it with your own MONEY!—ed]
This article was submitted on behalf of bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Thomas Aitken, bishop, Northeastern Minnesota Synod; Jon V. Anderson, bishop, Southwestern Minnesota Synod; Regina M. Hassalany, bishop, Southeastern Minnesota Synod; Patricia Lull, bishop, Saint Paul Area Synod; Ann Svennungsen, bishop, Minneapolis Area Synod; William T. Tesch, bishop, Northwestern Minnesota Synod.
Also submitted on behalf of leaders of the Roman Catholic Church: Bernard A. Hebda, archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis; Michael J. Hoeppner, bishop of Crookston; Donald J. Kettler, bishop of Saint Cloud; John M.LeVoir, bishop of New Ulm; John M. Quinn, bishop of Winona-Rochester, and Andrew H. Cozzens, auxiliary bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
Ron Pagnucco, Associate Professor Department of Peace Studies
College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University
St. Joseph, MN 56374-9447
rpagnucco@csbsju.edu
320.363.5784
***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.
For decades they have decidedin secrecy where to place refugees and they don’t want to lose that power because even as they pontificate about their religious convictions and humanitarian zeal, they are Leftwing political activist groups working to change America by changing the people and using your money to do it!
And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.
The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?
(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)
I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.
Don’t miss yesterday’s post about 15 dumb Republican governors who fell for the religious Left’s schmaltzy emotional ‘welcome the stranger’ mumbo-jumbo weeks/months before they really had to weigh-in.
As you should all know by now, nine federal refugee contractors including the US Conference of Catholic Bishops receive a large chunk of their income from you, the US taxpayer, based on the number of refugees they place in your towns and cities.
So it is no surprise that their revenue is dropping as the President reduces the number of refugees being ‘welcomed’ to America by the UN and the US State Department.
In a story about the Bishops upcoming budget year at theNational Catholic Register (h/t Joanne) we learn that the biggest drop in funding comes from their so-called Migration and Refugee Services Office budget.
Bishops OK 2020 budget; numbers inconclusive for 2021 assessment hike
BALTIMORE — The U.S. bishops voted to approve the budget for 2020 for their conference headquarters in Washington but did not register sufficient numbers to determine passage of a proposed 3% increase in the diocesan assessment for 2021.
Both votes took place Nov. 11, the first day of their Nov. 11-13 fall general assembly in Baltimore.
The bishops approved a budget nearing $22.69 million for next year.*** Budget approval required a majority of bishops present and voting. The vote was 211-11, with one abstention.
Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati
The proposed 2020 budget projects a “marginal” surplus of $49,261, about 2% of the total, according to Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati, treasurer of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The figures include increases of 3.6% for policy and advocacy, 3.5% for the administrative offices, 2.7% for the general secretariat, 1.2% for the bishops’ conference staff house in Washington, and 0.4% for pastoral ministries.
The biggest budget decreases come within the Migration and Refugee Services office, which relies on federal grants for much of its revenue.
MRS operations “continue to be impacted by the very dynamic changes in the federal immigration and refugee policies and programs,” Schnurr said in a message sent to bishops prior to the meeting.
MRS administration is being cut $6.6 million “due primarily to the reduction in refugee arrivals which directly impacts pass-through funding to the dioceses for local administration and direct assistance to clients,” Schnurr said. [LOL! pass-through funding after a huge slice is taken out for salaries!—ed]
MRS’ resettlement services office is being scaled back by $2.6 million “largely due to the closure of the Cuban-Haitian program by the end of 2019,” he added. MRS’ executive office is cutting its budget $178,00 for 2020, and its special programs office will be down $53,000 from 2019 levels.
Overall the numbers of refugees admitted to the country who are helped by MRS “continue to track downward,” Schnurr told his fellow bishops.
Rarely do we see reports on the number of refugees any of the nine contractors resettled.
In fiscal year 2016, MRS settled about 4,200 refugees. In 2017, the number swelled to 7,800 refugees, but last year MRS resettled 6,350. And as of Sept 30 of this year, the number of refugees settled was 4,350.
Interesting that in 2016 the Bishops had a smaller share (only 5%) of the incoming refugees than they do now (14%). It can only mean that as the overall number of refugees drop, the Bishops are getting a bigger cut. I wonder why that is?
Or, it could mean the Catholic Bishops received a lot more federal money because they also contracted to take care of the mushrooming numbers of ‘Unaccompanied Alien Children,’ funding for which comes under the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.
“Staff remains vigilant and where possible, proactive” in pushing for higher federal intake numbers, he said.
You can bet they are proactive and lobbying for more refugee paying clients and ultimately Democrat voters!
***But, here is what I don’t get. The Bishops reported a substantially higher income in 2018. Yes, they had more paying clients, but did they have so many fewer last year and expect even less in the coming year that their budget dropped by half from 2018?
That would be a great headline—-Under TrumpCatholicBishops lose at least $20 million in two years!
Maybe someone with accounting experience can jump in and explain—could they have lost half of their federal money in just two years?
BTW, in 2018 93% of their Migration Program was funded by US taxpayers!
From their consolidated annual reporttheir Migration and Refugee Services Program for calendar year 2018 shows over $48 million from the feds. So what I want to know is if their budget for the coming year will be only $22 million (as reported above) that indicates a enormous drop in federal funding over two years. Again, could that be true?
Only a little over $3 million was raised from private charitable giving by parishioners! page 38
Doing well by doing good!
Check out that 2018 financial report and notice that over $8 million went to SALARIES to compensate for their good works to benefit refugees. So much for ‘religious’ charities!
See myprevious post this morningabout the numbers of refugees admitted over the last ten years. I needed some of that data to figure what percentage of incoming refugee clients the Bishops are getting—I’m guessing they are getting the biggest chunk of the flow into your towns and cities.
Did you see the news that Democrat candidate for President Beto O’Rourke told an audience recently that he wanted to pull the tax exempt status of any religious organization that refused to perform gay marriages?
Yes Beto! Get rid of tax exempt status for some ‘religious charities’ but not for the reasons you suggest!
Well after having followed the fake non-profits hired by the feds to place refugees into unsuspecting towns and cities for over a decade, I have been thinking that we ought to pull the tax exempt status of any ‘religious’ group that operates in secrecy, gobbles up millions of tax payer dollars and then goes out and protests against the President (who is funding them!)….
….You know groups like the US Conference of Catholic Bishops,Church World Service, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
But holy cow! I never expected to see the Daily Caller carrying the water for those federal refugee CONTRACTORS in order to take a swipe at Beto.
The Daily Caller, called by wikipediaa right wing media outfit started by Tucker Carlson in 2010, must be trying to suck up to the Left with this distorted piece about how much religious groups do to help the poor and struggling refugees coming into the US from the third world.
Go for it, help the poor refugees (ignoring vulnerable Americans!), but do it with your own private charitable resources—NOT WITH TAXPAYER DOLLARS AND TAX EXEMPT STATUS!
[I just had a look at dozens of posts about the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the millions it receives from the federal government and came acrossthis 2017 postwhere Tucker Carlson eviscerates the Bishop’s Washington, DC lobbyist! Clearly Carlson is ‘Tucker who?’ at the Daily Caller!]
Religious Institutions Support Refugees, But Beto Wants To Take Away Their Tax-Exempt Status
What do you mean by “but?” I agree with Beto—take away their tax-exempt status! Of course, however, the young Catholic-educated reporter is referring to his statement about gay marriage.
Here are the opening two paragraphs in a report by Mary Margaret Olohan:
2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke wants to take away religious institution’s tax-exempt status if they will not perform same-sex marriages, but religious institutions make major contributions in helping refugees.
O’Rourke sparked backlash at CNN’s LGBTQ forum on Oct. 10 when he said that religious institutions that would not perform same-sex marriages should lose their tax-exempt status. He reiterated his statements Sunday, adding that this would apply to mosques and minority churches.
And, then she uses the supposed good works of two of nine refugee contractors to make her gushing points about how they help refugees and thus it’s an outrage for Beto (who loves refugees!) to suggest these benevolent politically Leftwing groups should lose tax exempt status.
Let me say it more clearly, it isn’t just that these ‘religious charities’ help refugees with taxpayer dollars, they promote illegal immigration and they actively protest on the streets against this President while living almost entirely on OUR US Treasury!
See Ms. Olohan’s credentials! https://dailycaller.com/author/Mary+Margaret+Olohan
You can read more from Ms. Mary Margaret Olohan, the Daily Caller‘s Social Issues reporter, yourself, but since she extols the virtues of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) as an example of a ‘religious charity’ making a major contribution to helping refugees (not American poor people!), I thought I would have a look at their most recent IRS Form 990.
[I mentioned the latest finances of the US Catholic Bishops here at ‘Frauds and Crooks.’]
First take a trip down memory lane andsee this postabout LIRS I wrote on Valentine’s day 2018:
Lutherans announce departure of CEO Hartke amid claims of financial irregularities, poor management
During the Obama years LIRS was 95% federally funded. According to the most recently available Form 990 (2018) they have slipped some and only received 87% of their funding from the US taxpayer—$41 million!
But here is the stunner! CEO Hartke was getting the heave-ho that year, but look at the salary she got going out the door! Over $400,000! That is about $80,000 more than the previous year! Pay-off?
This is largely your money!
Screenshot of a portion of the salaries page at LIRS 2018 IRS Form 990
What good is it if we have “right wing” media doing propaganda for Open Borders Inc?
So, I suggest Ms. Olohan do a little more research before picking which ‘religious charities’ to use as examples of virtue. And, btw, where was her editor?
Endnote: I don’t want to sound like I’m whining, but I’ve just spent a couple of hours (I don’t get paid!) doing research that salary-collecting reporters should be doing.
The transgressions of LIRS have been widely reported for years and even if she couldn’t find my work because WordPressdotcom killed RRW,Breitbartdid do a bunch of stories on the financial scandal surrounding Hartke’s departure.
CNN is reporting that as the 2020 fiscal year approaches (a week from tomorrow) some refugees who had plane tickets for October are being notified that their flights are canceled.
By the way, we are on the hunt every day for the Presidential Determination for how many refugees will be admitted as your new neighbors in the next fiscal year. At one point, leaks (by deep state actors within the federal government) suggested the number could be zero. That, of course, sent the contractors, whose budgets depend on your money, into fits of rage at the President.
Flights to bring some refugees to the US are being canceled
Flights for some refugees who were approved to come to the United States have been canceled, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The move has sparked concern among resettlement agencies that have booked travel for refugees into October, anticipating the continuation of arrivals in the upcoming fiscal year. It also has the potential of leaving some refugees who were approved to come to the US in limbo.
Rachel Pollock
“It concerns me that our local offices have done a bunch of work and started to make plans for these cases to come. It’s so atypical,” said Rachel Pollock, director of resettlement services for United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, one of the nine resettlement agencies that work with the State Department to place refugees.
“No one really knows what’s coming or what’s going to happen. It seems like a further move away from what we’ve come to expect from this program,” Pollock added.
[Don’t miss my post yesterday about the Bishop’s “summer of discontent” with Donald Trump. Come to think of it, wouldn’t you think the Bishops would cut Trump some slack since he is a staunch defender of the unborn!—ed]
The International Organization for Migration [an organization within the UN-ed], which is in charge of booking refugees on their travel, sent cancellation notices out Monday morning.
A notice obtained by CNN [leaked to CNN by a contractor or some denizen of the deep state most likely—ed] includes the travel itinerary for individuals whose travel was booked for October and canceled. The stated reason for cancellation: “FY20 moratorium extension.”
The notice doesn’t provide an end date for the extension.
The State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration directed the International Organization for Migration to send the notifications, according to a department spokesperson, who added the moratorium is being extended through October 21. The department is working with the organization to rebook the flights contingent upon the refugee admissions ceiling for fiscal year 2020.
[….]
As a result of the declining admissions under the Trump administration, all nine resettlement agencies have had to close offices or pause their placement programs — chipping away at a system designed to not only place refugees but also help them integrate into communities across the country.
As of April 2019, around 100 offices have either closed entirely or suspended their refugee resettlement program, a third of offices nationwide, according to a Refugee Council USA report released this year.
The filthy rich US Conference of Catholic Bishopsis at odds with the Trump Administration over immigration policy—so what else is new!
“America welcomes refugees; that is who we are, that is what we do.” Vasquez chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration is telling Trump.
Here is a long (too long) recitation of everything the President is doing to annoy Catholic Bishops, but one thing is missing and that is that the Trump Administration has reduced by tens of millions the boodle the Bishops get from the US Treasury!
Could that be the real reason they are so hot under the collar?
Trump administration at odds with Catholic leaders on immigration policies
This has been the summer of discontent for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on U.S. immigration policy. Since June the U.S. bishops have released more than 10 statements reflecting their displeasure with a broad range of White House decisions on immigration.
The U.S.C.C.B. has criticized the administration’s treatment of migrant detainees, especially children, challenging policy that has resulted in the separation of families and led to inhumane conditions at detention sites. It has resisted White House plans to rewrite asylum rules and to allow temporary protected status for vulnerable migrant communities to expire, and it has deplored proposed cuts to foreign aid that bishops say will only drive more migrants to the U.S. border.
[….]
On Sept. 13 the U.S.C.C.B. weighed in on immigration again, this time on plans that critics charge will mean the end of the United States as a safe haven for the world’s refugees.
So get this, large numbers of Catholics are supporting the President!
Ethics professor Heyer with the Pope. Catholics who support Trump are “ignoring their bishops.”
Resistance to the president’s immigration policies is high when measured among all Catholics, but white Catholics offered Trump 56 percent of their vote in 2016 and a majority of white Catholics—51 percent—still maintain a favorable opinion of the president—many among them presumably support White House immigration proposals. Those who do are not only ignoring their bishops, said Kristin Heyer, discussing the subject via email, they are endorsing positions at sharp odds with church teaching on migration and its call to protect the lives and the human dignity of migrating people.
Ms. Heyer is a professor of theological ethics at Boston College.
“The Catholic social tradition recognizes the right of sovereign nations to control their borders,” Ms. Heyer said, “but the right is not understood to be absolute. In the case of blatant human rights violations, the right to state sovereignty is relativized by the tradition’s primary commitment to protecting human dignity.”
[….]
“As the Catholic Church prepares to celebrate the World Day of Migrants and Refugees” on Sept. 29, “we are reminded of Pope Francis urging us all to work for a ‘globalization of solidarity’ with refugees, not a globalization of ‘indifference,’” the bishops said.
It is long, so you can read the rest yourself byclicking here. Catholics should definitely read it so you know the entire litany of complaints the Bishops have with the Prez.
Absent from the article is any mention of the fact that the USCCB is one of the largest ‘non-profit’ recipients of taxpayer dollars going to what they call their “migration program.”
Gee, I wonder how the humanitarians are managing with a budgetary loss of $24 million in one year!
From arecent financial statement(page 10). This is only the federal tax dollars the USCCB receives for its migration services. They receive many millions more for myriad programs they run for the federal government.
Holy moly! Their revenue received from the US Treasury dropped by nearly a third in one year ($24 million went poof!).
The disingenuous Leftwing media is never going to mention that there is TAXPAYER funded payola involved in the USCCB’s supposed ‘Christian charity,’ so I guess I will just have to keep repeating myself!
Let me say at the outset, that the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program is the ultimate example of bad government! 
