Secular Media Stepping up to Expose the Corrupt Bishops

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DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - A new "summer of shame" continues to pile on for corrupt Catholic organizations like the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Charities USA.

Secular media organizations are again exposing the U.S. bishops and their non-governmental organizations for advancing both anti-Catholic and anti-America agendas.

Recently, The Stream detailed the bishops' immigration money grab, while The Epoch Times took a more wide-ranging look at several inconsistencies in the actions of the U.S. hierarchy.

"With no projected end to the chaos of illegal immigration at the Mexican border, some congressional Republicans have decided to confront the religious agencies aggravating the problem — including Catholic Charities, which plays a pivotal role in human smuggling," began the piece published by The Stream.

"Even conservative Catholics are organizing to oppose their bishops' support of open borders. The Deposit of Faith Coalition held a press conference July 20 in Washington, D.C., to demand that Congress stop funding the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops," the article continued. "The website Church Militant, one of the members, calls the coalition 'a group of about a dozen Catholic or Catholic-led outfits.'"

The Stream proceeded by reminding readers of a December letter sent by Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in which Gooden accused the Department of Homeland Security of "allowing non-governmental organizations the freedom to aid and abet illegal aliens." Fellow Republicans, like Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Texas, and Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., also signed the letter.

Gooden sent a letter to Catholic Charities as well, accusing the NGO of "violating federal law and regulation, placing migrants and American communities at risk and subjecting local communities to unreasonable burdens."

In May, Gooden sent a follow-up letter to Mayorkas, this time signed by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., seeking information about the relationship between the federal government and NGOs regarding the current border crisis.

"Instead of working to address this issue together, nonprofits have refused to cooperate with congressional requests for information and other documents," penned Gooden. "Heads of religious organizations attacked me, my colleagues and our conservative constituents as those who only 'call themselves Christians' and fail to remember that 'the gospel compels us' to aid migrants."

Gooden refused to take the bait, responding, "By facilitating the mass inflow of illegal immigrants, NGOs risk our national security and expose migrants to exploitation through abusive labor practices, human trafficking and smuggling." 

"Two weeks earlier, on May 2, Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart sponsored a border security bill that included provisions to eliminate FEMA's Shelter and Services Program, which helps migrants awaiting resolution of their status and received $800 million for this year," The Stream went on. "The USCCB responded with a campaign to oppose Diaz-Balart's bill, even providing pre-written letters. But it passed the Republican-led House and awaits its reception in the Senate, which Democrats control."

If passed, the bill would have a detrimental result for the bishops, as they have received over $3 billion in government funding between 2008 and 2022. "During that period, Catholic Charities collected $1.86 billion, while the USCCB got $1.113 billion in direct federal grants, the fifth largest total among all agencies. From that $1.113 billion, the USCCB gave $586 million to Catholic Charities," The Stream reported.

The Stream also reported, "While investigating the role NGOs play in human smuggling, the Heritage Foundation found through geofencing that Catholic Charities, at its facility in San Juan, Texas, used nearly 3,400 separate mobile phones to link anonymous contacts in 433 of the nation's 435 congressional districts."

Elizabeth Yore, former general counsel for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, is quoted in the article for calling Catholic Charities "probably the number one or two NGO that is handling the trafficking of children."

Yore added, "Sexual predators go where vulnerable children are. You can't tell me that there aren't hundreds, if not thousands, of sexual predators who are posing as sponsors for these vulnerable children."

Catholic agencies are a large beneficiary of the Unaccompanied Alien Children Program, which "has received more direct federal grants than any other federal immigration." Out of the over $2.7 billion total funds for the program, Catholic organizations received around $97 million.

The Epoch Times began its write-up by spotlighting reports by DOF coalition member The Lepanto Institute. As Lepanto Institute recently revealed, the largest Catholic health network, CommonSpirit Health, partners with an in-home abortion provider: "CommonSpirit announced its partnership with Tia Women's Health on March 31, 2021, calling the union a 'first-of-its-kind partnership to create a new front door to healthcare for women.'"

The Epoch Times proceeded to link to another Lepanto Institute bombshell that revealed "non-Catholic hospitals in the CommonSpirit network were performing transgender surgeries and providing puberty blockers to children under the guise of 'gender-affirming care.'"

According to the shocking exposé, "The report identified 45 facilities, operating as subsidiaries of CommonSpirit under the names Dignity Health and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, that provide one or more services including transgender care, sex-change surgeries, employee health care benefits that cover such services, abortion, contraception or surgical sterilization."

Later in the article, The Epoch Times references the DOF coalition's July press conference and quotes Church Militant CEO Michael Voris:

The USCCB, while it has the word "Catholic" in it, is not Catholic by any means, shape or form. It's a political lobbying arm here in the states, and that's all it engages in. It does not express anything about "the Faith." It has no binding authority when it comes to "the Faith." No bishop is bound to follow anything that comes out of the USCCB.

The Epoch Times noted Voris' pronounced goal for the DOF, namely, "to defund the bishops and other members of what we'll call the irreligious Left" who are "receiving billions of U.S. tax dollars and funneling it back into the Democratic Party's agenda."

Voris revealed to the media organization that this push by the Church for "the poor" began in the 1960s with the communist introduction of Liberation Theology. "That's the driving force behind all of this," Voris claimed. "Immigration, climate change, social justice, it's all centered around the pretense of caring for the poor."

The Epoch Times also acknowledged the massive amount of money the USCCB receives from the federal government: "The USASpending.gov website shows that the USCCB received an almost $40 million grant from the U.S. State Department for a 'reception and placement program for refugees approved for admission in the United States.'"

The report subsequently divulged that the bishops revealed the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, established in 1970, funds "such projects as voter registration, community organizations, community-run schools, minority-owned cooperatives and credit unions," providing "capital for industrial development and job training programs and setting up of rural cooperatives."

Church Militant and the Deposit of Faith Coalition continue to advocate for defunding these corrupt organizations, which are hiding under the guise of religion. According to a DOF press release:

The coalition proposes three ways to defund the organizations:

1. Stop congressional appropriations committees from granting them contracts
2. Force the churches to publish their tax filings (990s) by amending the IRS code
3. Cancel the tax-exempt status outright for blatant partisan politicking

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