A Wisconsin-based Catholic Charities group is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to exempt it from a state unemployment program after the Wisconsin state Supreme Court ruled that it was not classified under "typical" religious activities because of the way it is run.
"Catholic Charities Bureau carries out our Diocese’s essential ministry of caring for the most vulnerable members of our society," said Bishop James Powers, Bishop of the Diocese of Superior. "We pray the Court will recognize that this work of improving the human condition is rooted in Christ’s call to care for those in need."
Catholic Charities groups see their ministry as helping the needy, but they don't make their aid conditional upon the receivers believing the same thing they do.
They make it a point to hire people even if they don't share Catholic beliefs and don't try to convert them, which is what made the state supreme court say they weren't "typical" for a religious group.
If the group only hired Catholics and tried to convert those it serves, it could be exempt, the state court said.
"The Wisconsin Supreme Court thought it atypical of religion that Catholic Charities does not ‘attempt to imbue’ those it helps with the Catholic faith, and that it hires employees 'regardless of religion.' And the court held that because Catholic Charities provides services that ‘can be provided by organizations of either religious or secular motivations,’ those services do not have a religious purpose," the petition to the Supreme Court stated.
"Put another way, it doesn’t matter if Catholic Charities gives a cup of water in Jesus’ name, because non-religious charities offer cups of water too," it reasoned.
"That absurd result deepens a split between state courts that require religious entities to conform to stereotypes to qualify for the ‘religious purposes’ exemption and those that do not," the petition said.
"And that thrusts state governments into a thicket of First Amendment questions under the Free Exercise Clause, the Establishment Clause, and the church autonomy doctrine, not least because it forces agencies and courts to second-guess the religious decisions of religious bodies," it continued.
In so many words, the petition is saying, "Since when does any court get to decide whether the way we practice our religion is valid?
That's a good point: there are all kinds of religious practices these days, and no one outside the religion should be allowed to force it to conform to any specific thing in order to be considered a valid religious practice.
As long as it doesn't break any laws, why should a court get to determine this?
"It shouldn’t take a theologian to understand that serving the poor is a religious duty for Catholics," said Eric Rassbach, senior counsel at Becket. "But the Wisconsin Supreme Court embraced the absurd conclusion that Catholic Charities has no religious purpose. We’re asking the Supreme Court to step in and fix that mistake."
The Supreme Court might decide as early as this fall to take the case.
