The Catholic Church is breaking up with the U.S. government. Here's why it matters

Yahoo

07-04-2025

U.S. Catholic leaders are ending their church's 50-year partnership with the federal government and seeking new ways to help refugees.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced the change in a press release and Washington Post column on Monday, arguing that the Trump administration forced his denomination's hand.
'The bishops' decision came after the federal government suspended our cooperative agreements to resettle refugees. The drastic reduction of these programs forced us to reconsider the best way to serve the needs of our brothers and sisters seeking safe harbor from violence and persecution,' he wrote for The Washington Post.
As Archbishop Broglio noted, the Catholic Church in the U.S. has been reeling since President Donald Trump froze federal funding for refugee resettlement programs after taking office in January.
Catholic leaders are fighting that order in court, but they've determined they can't afford to maintain their current refugee programs amid the legal uncertainty.
'The work simply cannot be sustained at current levels or in its current form with only the church's resources. I have been praying for the impacted refugees, but I would also ask that you join me in praying for the many dedicated staffers who have selflessly carried out this work,' Archbishop Broglio said.
In deciding to formally end its relationship with the federal government, U.S. Catholic leaders are disrupting their church's century-long effort to serve immigrants and refugees.
Since 1920, Catholic leaders have worked to help vulnerable families, including persecuted people of faith, rebuild their lives in the U.S., according to Archbishop Broglio's press release.
'Over the years, partnerships with the federal government helped expand lifesaving programs, benefiting our sisters and brothers from many parts of the world. All participants in these programs were welcomed by the U.S. government to come to the United States and underwent rigorous screening before their arrival. These are displaced souls who see in America a place of dreams and hope,' he wrote.
About 50 years ago, the church adjusted its refugee-related programs to lean more fully into partnership opportunities with the federal government.
That refocusing on church-state partnerships is what made Trump's funding freeze so disruptive for the Catholic Church.
In order to keep serving refugee families moving forward, the church will have to reorganize its infrastructure to take the focus off federal programs, Archbishop Broglio wrote.
'This is a painful end to a life-sustaining partnership the Catholic Church in the U.S. has had with our government and that has spanned decades across administrations of both political parties. It offers every Catholic an opportunity to search our hearts for ways to help in the absence of government support,' he wrote for The Washington Post.
The church's Monday announcement adds to a growing conflict between Catholic leaders and the Trump administration.
Since Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, the two camps have traded barbs over the best way to balance service to immigrants and refugees with national security concerns.
This context helps explain why Archbishop Broglio took pains in his statement and column to describe the nature of the Catholic Church's past relationship with the federal government.
His comment that government money never fully covered the cost of what the church was doing for refugees almost certainly came in response to Vice President JD Vance's claim that the church has become too reliant on federal funding.
'I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?,' Vance said in a January interview with CBS News, as the Deseret News reported at the time.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops previously pushed back against Vance's comment in a Jan. 26 statement.
In his new statement and column, Archbishop Broglio makes it clear that the Catholic Church will continue serving refugees moving forward. But the structure that service will take remains unclear.
The archbishop asked Catholics and others to pray for the church as it enters a new chapter.
'The Bible's call to do what we can for the least among us remains the benchmark. Please join us in praying for God's grace, that we might still find generous ways to respond to crises and bring hope where it is most needed,' he wrote for The Washington Post.