Catholic church receiving PPP aid is no ‘scandal’
Last week, The Associated Press reported that the U.S. Roman Catholic Church used special exemptions to receive coronavirus aid. The article deliberately cast the participation of Catholic churches in the Payroll Protection Program as something nefarious and scandalous.
The AP reported that “the U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups.”
That’s deeply deceptive. Here’s why:
1. The PPP is not about bailing out businesses, but about keeping paychecks going to workers with strict limits on how much money can go to other purposes; in its very intent, this was a program meant to help employees keep their jobs rather than being sent to the unemployment line.
2. The AP implied that the Catholic Church, due to its scandals, was morally unworthy of this money. Regardless of one’s opinion on this matter, the PPP does not make moral judgments of its recipients. In fact, the Small Business Administration tried to ban strip clubs from participating, and those businesses have fought and won in court to get these funds.
3. In addition, nonprofits were just as eligible as for-profit businesses, so long as they had a disruption in their income that would have prevented them from paying their employees — and all individual churches, not just Catholic churches, were eligible. One study in May found that nearly a quarter of Protestant churches received loans, and that larger churches were more likely to have received loans. The reality is that the administrative staff at any large denomination, not just the Catholics, provided application help to their local churches to ensure they were able to take advantage of the program.
4. After an initial shortfall, Congress expanded the pool of money available. When the program wound down at the end of June, $130 billion remained available. No small business lost out due to churches (or steakhouses) receiving money for their employees.
5. Loans are restricted to employers with fewer than 500 employees. Is it fair that a company with 499 employees was eligible for PPP money, but not one with 501? Not really, but it’s how many government programs work.
6. Why did local Catholic churches receive PPP loans even though Catholic dioceses in total have considerably more than 500 employees? What the AP labels as special treatment gained through lobbying is more a matter of remedying unfairness. It is a part of Catholic teaching that each parish is not independent but instead, answers to the bishop. This causes them to be legally organized in such a way as to be deemed, for PPP purposes, a single large employer rather than multiple small employers where a similarly situated Methodist church wouldn’t be.
Here’s what the SBA says: “Entities that are affiliated according to SBA’s affiliation rules must add up their employee numbers in determining whether they have 500 or fewer employees. … But regulations must be applied consistent with constitutional and statutory religious freedom protections. If the connection between your organization and another entity that would constitute an affiliation is based on a religious teaching or belief or is otherwise a part of the exercise of religion, your organization qualifies for an exemption from the affiliation rules.”
It’s true that someone predisposed to believe that religious organizations in general, and the Catholic church in particular, do more harm than good will find this distinction nonsensical. But to the rest of us, this is an entirely appropriate religious accommodation.