Catholic Charities appeals Wisconsin ruling blocking its religious tax exemption

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior, which has programs for the disabled, elderly, and impoverished, argued caring for those in need is part of its religious mission. / Credit: Catholic Charities Bureau

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 13, 2024 / 19:18 pm (CNA).

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a decision to remove its religious organization designation and bar it from receiving a religious tax exemption.

The agency, which operates under the purview of the Diocese of Superior and has programs for the disabled, elderly, and impoverished, argued caring for those in need is part of its religious mission. 

“Catholic Charities Bureau carries out our diocese’s essential ministry of caring for the most vulnerable members of our society,” Bishop James Powers of Superior said in a statement released on the day of Catholic Charities’ appeal to the Supreme Court.

“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,” Powers added.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior is appealing a March ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that said the organization isn’t entitled to receive a religious exemption and must pay into the state unemployment system. The 4-3 ruling said that because Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior’s activities are not “primarily” religious the group does not qualify as a religious organization.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court also said that to successfully challenge the state’s primarily religious standard, Catholic Charities would have to prove it was unconstitutional “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

On Aug. 9 Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior appealed the March ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The group is being represented by Becket, a firm that specializes in religious liberty cases and has been involved with several high-profile Supreme Court cases.

In its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Catholic Charities called the Wisconsin court’s ruling “absurd” and argued that it curtails its First Amendment rights by “penalizing Catholic Charities for engaging in critical parts of its ministry” including “serving those in need without proselytizing.”

“The state denied Catholic Charities an exemption precisely because its religious beliefs and exercise differed from what the Wisconsin Supreme Court thought were ‘typical’ religious activities,” Catholic Charities wrote in its appeal. “That wrongly disfavors those religious traditions that ask believers to care for the poor without strings attached.”

The appeal states that a ruling by the Supreme Court would resolve religious liberty questions impacting churches and faiths beyond just Wisconsin.

The questions Catholic Charities, represented by Becket, are posing to the Supreme Court are: 1) whether a state violates the First Amendment by denying tax breaks to one religious group while denying them to another; and 2) whether a state can impose a beyond a reasonable doubt standard for constitutional challenges.

According to the appeal, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision “deepens a split among lower courts over whether federal constitutional violations must be proven ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’”

The appeal argues that this case is the “ideal vehicle” to resolve the split and to “set this important area of law onto a firmer — and constitutionally sounder — footing.”

“It shouldn’t take a theologian to understand that serving the poor is a religious duty for Catholics,” Eric Rassbach, vice president of Becket, said in a statement. “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.”