Charity is key to our Catholic faith. Supreme Court will hear that case

Today, March 31, my diocese will stand before Supreme Court of United States To defend our right to the continuation of our decade of serving mission. It is shocking that it had to come. However, the Wisconsin officials seek to prevent our efforts by claiming that this charity ministry is not religious.

Guided by Catholic social learning And the commands of Christ, the Catholic dioceses across the country, provide vital, love care to those who need it. Indeed, as Pope Francis reminds us, “For the Church, the tendency for the poor is not inexplicable.”

This fundamental principle of Catholic social learning invites us to give a priority in an unfavorable position in all aspects of our work. IN Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, We respond to Christ’s invitation to serve with compassion through the work of our Office for Catholic Charity Organization. For more than a century, this ministry has been a source of hope and concern for thousands of our elderly, poor and disabled neighbors.

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Through the Catholic Charity Organization, the Church can offer classes of life skills, vocational training, employment services, older housing with low income, adult support with special needs, personal care and assistance for independent life. Catholic charity organizations improve the human condition by treating each person with the dignity of one created in the image of God, as if we were taking care of Christ himself.

The Supreme Court of the United States will be the place of a new battle for religious freedom. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Last year, the majority of the Supreme Court in Wisconsin – who put the blind – stated that Catholic charity organizations did not act primarily for religious purposes. Basically, the court came to this conclusion because he said that our charity achievement is not a “typical” religious activity.

This deeply disappointing verdict meant that the Catholic charities were forced to continue to pay in the state program for unemployed. This also means that Catholic charities cannot join a better and more effective unemployment program in Wisconsin. We remain persistent in our mission, but this decision provokes our ability to live the invitation of Christ to serve with faith in the center of everything we do.

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Most of all, the decision of the Supreme Court in Wisconsin is damaging to those who rely on our ministries. If they are not corrected, Catholic charity organizations will be forced to continue to divert their precious resources to cover the costs related to participating in the state program.

As managers of generous gifts that gave us, we always try to ensure that we maximize their direct impact, instead of spending ourselves on state programs intentionally intended to exclude religious organizations such as ours.

But what concerns me most is this decision is the explanation behind it. The court suggests that Catholic charity organizations would be religious if they only hired Catholics and sought to turn those they serve. This wrongly represents our faith and the heart of our mission.

True Christian charity does not separate “deserving of” non -comprehensive “, nor is it a means of pro -zelitization. Instead, it flows out of love, as St. Augustine teaches, “the virtue that … unite us with God, because we love him.”

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The good Samaritan did not question the faith of the wounded man; He saw the need and answered mercy. This is an example of Catholic charity organizations that have accepted for more than a century, which is a spirit in which we will continue to serve the most endangered among us. No matter how others define our work, our commitment to abolish those in need will remain unwavering and rooted in love.

With the support of the Becket Fund for religious freedom, our diocese last fall brought this case before the US Supreme Court. Today, Justices will consider whether Wisconsin’s cramped view of what represents “religion” can withstand supervision. We hope and we ask that Justices recognizes the sincere faith in the core of our service.