WASHINGTON (BP) – The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday (March 31) in a case that will determine whether a Catholic benevolent ministry qualifies for a tax exemption granted to churches.
At issue in the case, Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission, is the commission’s ruling that the Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) and its four sub-entities, which provide various social services to a diversity of needy communities, do not operate for religious purposes and don’t qualify for an exemption from the state’s unemployment insurance program.
The exemption, originally sought by the CCB back in 2016, would allow Catholic Charities and its sub-entities to enroll in the Wisconsin Bishops’ Church Unemployment Pay Program (CUPP), which the Catholic plaintiffs contend is more efficient, less costly and provides the same benefits as the state’s program.
In denying tax exemption, the Wisconsin Supreme Court pointed out the CCB’s sub-entities do not require their employees nor those served to be Catholic, and do not offer religious training nor attempt to promote the Catholic faith.
During Monday’s arguments, Neil Gorsuch, one of the court’s reliably conservative justices, said a fundamental principle of the First Amendment was that “the state shouldn’t be picking and choosing between religions.”
Liberal justice Elena Kagan appeared to agree, saying, “I thought it was pretty fundamental that we don’t treat some religions better than other religions.”
CCB, the social ministry arm of the Diocese of Superior in northern Wisconsin, serves those in need as “an effective sign of the charity of Christ,” according to court documents, but makes no distinction of religion in its services or employment.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) joined a variety of religious denominations in filing an amicus brief urging the High Court to rule in favor of the Catholic ministry. The ERLC was joined in the brief, filed Feb. 4, by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and several others.
“It is not right for the government to prescribe religious practice or compel a religious group to conform to its standards of what qualifies as ‘real’ religion,” ERLC Vice President Miles Mullin told Baptist Press. “In fact, the state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state of Wisconsin is doing just that in its determination that the mercy ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Superior did not meet its standards for ‘real’ religious activity, and thus disqualified them for a tax exemption.”
