United States Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
CNA Staff, Feb 19, 2025 / 09:05 am (CNA).
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is suing the Trump administration over what the bishops say is an unlawful suspension of funding for refugee programs in the United States.
Upon taking office last month, President Donald Trump issued sweeping executive orders that, among other measures, directed a freeze on foreign assistance funds and grants, with the White House seeking to uproot left-wing initiatives in federally funded programs.
The orders have led to a flurry of legal challenges from advocates and nonprofit groups arguing that the funding freeze is unlawful. Other groups such as Catholic Charities have urged the Trump administration to reconsider the freeze, citing the “crucial care” the funding helps provide.
In their lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in U.S. district court in Washington, D.C., the USCCB notes that it has worked with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration for “nearly half a century” in order to assist with refugee resettlement in the U.S.
The refugee bureau has committed “around $65 million in federal funding” to the USCCB and its affiliates for refugee services, the bishops say in their suit. Yet on Jan. 24 the State Department suspended funding “without prior notice,” with the bishops receiving a “cursory, two-page letter” informing them of the suspension.
The results of the suspension have been “devastating,” the bishops say, with the prelates reporting “millions of dollars in pending, unpaid reimbursements for services already rendered to refugees,” along with “millions more each week.”
“USCCB has already been forced to initiate layoffs for 50 employees,” the suit says. “It faces irreparable damage to its long-standing refugee resettlement programs and its reputation and relationship with its subrecipients and the refugee populations it serves.”
Downstream partners, meanwhile, have also been forced to lay off staff, the bishops say, while refugees already in the U.S. “may soon be cut off from support.
The bishops argue that the funding freeze violates the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which oversees how federal agencies administer rules and processes. The freeze also violates the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit says.
In their suit the bishops ask the court to strike down the funding suspension and block the federal government from implementing it.
Earlier this month the Jesuit Refugee Service argued that more than 100,000 refugees across the globe will be negatively impacted by the Trump funding freeze, with the pause bringing about a “total work stoppage” for the Catholic organization.
The pause “will be detrimental to millions of our sisters and brothers who need access to lifesaving humanitarian, health, and development assistance,” the bishops said.
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Patrick Norton stands near Sister Annella Zervas’ grave, October 2022. / Credit: Patti Armstrong
St. Paul, Minn., Dec 10, 2023 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Pointing toward the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto at the Saint Benedict Monastery cemetery in St. Joseph, Minnesota, 61-year-old Patrick Norton recounts the day 13 years ago when he was painting light posts in front of a statue of the Blessed Mother and encountered who he believes was Sister Annella Zervas, OSB.
Zervas, a Benedictine sister, died in 1926 at the age of 26 of a debilitating skin disease.
Norton, who was plucked from the streets of Bombay as a child by Mother Teresa and later adopted by an American family, had been hired by the College of Saint Benedict on Oct. 27, 2010, to do some painting. He told CNA that while finishing up the last light post in front of the grotto he thought to himself, “I wonder if the Blessed Mother thinks I am doing a good job?” When he looked down, there was a nun in full Benedictine habit.
“‘You are doing a good job,’ she told me. We talked a little, but I don’t remember what it was about. Then I watched as she disappeared,” he told CNA.
The encounter was so astonishing that Norton kept it to himself for a year. But in a chance conversation, he was told “there is a holy nun buried in that cemetery” and he came to learn it was Zervas. Eventually, he saw a picture of her and was certain that she was the one who had appeared to him.
Patrick Norton stands beside the lamp post he was painting near the Marian grotto when he saw a woman in full Benedict habit who he believes was Sister Annella Zervas. Credit: Patti Armstrong
An elderly religious sister at Saint Benedict Monastery — who also happened to be named Sister Annella — shared with Norton pictures of Zervas and a booklet about the young sister’s life called “Apostles of Suffering in Our Day” by Benedictine priest Joseph Kreuter, published in 1929.
“Why isn’t she a saint yet?’ Norton asked.
“Oh, I’m in my 80s and I’m the only one promoting her cause,” she replied.
“Sister, why can’t I help you out?” he replied.
Norton said she just looked at him. “I didn’t have any experience but felt compassion for her, and also, I did see Sister Annella, so I felt I had to promote her cause.”
He read in the booklet that Zervas entered the convent at age 15 and died from a painful, unsightly, and odiferous skin disease at age 26. She was also subjected to attacks from the devil and from a heartburn that made it hard to keep food down. At the time of her death, she weighed only 40 pounds. Yet, she asked God to allow her even more suffering and for the strength to bear it so she could offer it up for the Church.
Every week, Norton made 10 copies of the booklet to pass out. “I went to Sister Annella’s grave and told her, ‘If I am going to make more books, I need money.’”
A short time later he had a conversation with someone he had just met and told about Zervas. “How can I help?” the person asked him.
“Can you help me make 20 books a week instead of just 10?”
“How about 20,000?” the donor, who wanted to remain anonymous, replied.
The number of books Norton has now distributed is about 100,000. It was also previously published in French and Sri Lanken.
Another good Samaritan arranged for Norton to be interviewed for a video called “The Sanctity of Two Hearts.”
A friend of Norton’s located Joanne Zervas, a niece of Sister Annella’s, and Norton met with her. She gave him many of her aunt’s personal effects for safekeeping, including family letters, a silver spoon used to give holy Communion when Zervas was incapacitated, her rosary, a book stained with what is believed to be her blood, and candles that burned in her room when she died.
Word spread about the sister and there were reports of answered prayers through her intercession. Yet, it seemed unlikely that a cause for her canonization would open.
Norton recounted that Bishop Donald Joseph Kettler of the Diocese of St. Cloud encouraged him to keep telling his story but declined to take further steps in order to respect the wishes of the Benedictine sisters who were not interested in opening a cause for Zervas.
In a SC Times article in 2017, a spokesperson for the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, said it was not the Benedictine way to promote one sister above another as it would “be contrary to humility.” A spokesperson from the diocese said that without their support, there would be no cause.
But Norton and a small group that had formed to pray that her cause be opened met monthly at the cemetery and kept praying.
After years of disappointment, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis informed Norton that he was appealing to the wrong diocese. Zervas had died in her parents’ home in Moorhead, Minnesota, which is in the Crookston Diocese. But again, there was no interest in opening a cause there.
“I went through darkness,” Norton admitted. “I would say, ‘Really Lord, are you hearing me?’ One day I said, ‘I’m not getting any younger you know.’”
Norton questioned if he was even the right person to promote Zervas. “I’m not a doctor or a lawyer; I’m just a painter,” he said. But he had told the Lord: “Let me live each day for you, and I will tell people about her through my nothingness.”
Patrick Norton speaks during event at the grotto in the cemetery during event where the bishop’s letter was read in October 2023. Credit: Patti Armstrong
Then in 2021, Bishop Andrew Cozzens was appointed to the Diocese of Crookston. Norton heard that Cozzens had known about Zervas since he was a boy. Then on Oct. 15 Norton heard — through a letter from the bishop that was read at the cemetery to the prayer group — that initial steps are being put in place by the diocese to begin an investigation into Zervas’ life, which will make it possible for a cause to be opened.
Norton has now been promoting Zervas’ story for more than a decade.
“I couldn’t fall asleep that night,” Norton told CNA. “I was overwhelmed. The first thing I did was to thank Our Lord and Our Lady. Before going to bed, every night, I always kiss the cheek of Our Lady of Fátima statue [in his home] and say, ‘Good night, Mother.’ And I kiss the feet of Our Lord on a big crucifix from a monastery in Spain and say, ‘You are my Lord and my God. There is no other God, and I love you.’”
“Even before Sister Annella appeared to me, every Mother’s Day, I brought roses to the grotto and would tell [Mary], ‘You are the best Ma in the whole world. Happy Mother’s Day, Ma.’ I’d sit there and look at the big crucifix and pray the rosary.”
Norton said he is at peace with his efforts over the years to make Zervas’ life and holiness known. “Since the diocese is taking over, I’m going to just be silent and do my best to live in humility and pray,” he said. “I will pray a lot and thank the Lord for the work he is doing.”
Montgomery, Ala., Sep 3, 2019 / 12:28 pm (CNA).- A judge in Alabama has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a six-week old aborted baby.
Court documents allege that a then-16-year-old Alabama woman obtained a medication abortion in February 2017, despite the protestations of her boyfriend, Ryan Magers who said he was the father of the child.
Magers subsequently sued the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville, saying that he had wanted to keep the child.
Alabama voters approved changes to the state constitution – Amendment 2 – in November 2018 to establish a right to life of unborn children, known as a “personhood clause.” The measure passed with 60 percent support from the public. The state also has statutes defining “personhood” as beginning at conception, as well as several opinions from the Alabama Supreme Court doing the same.
In an Aug. 30 ruling, however, Madison County Circuit Judge Chris Comer said none of these measures are legally applicable, due to the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case that established a “right to abortion” nationwide, as well as federal and state laws on abortion that are currently in effect.
Magers’ attorney had created an estate for the unborn baby, arguing that doing so granted personhood to the baby, identified in court documents as Baby Roe.
But Judge Comer disagreed, saying the estate creation process was “ministerial in nature.”
Brent Helms, Magers’ attorney, told CNA in March that the case is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States, and hopes to establish a new precedent in what is legally “uncharted territory.”
The lawsuit names as wrongdoers the manufacturer of the pill that terminated the unborn baby’s life, the abortion clinic, the doctor, the nurses, and all those who participated in the abortion.
If those entities are found liable for the wrongful death of Baby Roe, Helms said in March, then what was once a profit-making industry will now be subject to liability.
“And the question for them will be, ‘are we more subject to liability than we are to profitability?’ If a drug manufacturer determines that they’re going to be held liable for an abortion in the state of Alabama, I doubt they’re going to send any kind of pills to Alabama for an abortion,” he said.
“So I would think [their] conclusion would likely be that liability outweighs profitability, and therefore abortion is eliminated in the state of Alabama. It’s just a simple business decision.”
Helms told local WHNT News 19 this week that they plan to appeal Judge Comer’s decision, saying, “As this is the first case of its kind, we expected to have to appeal to a higher court. At this point, we are exactly where we thought we’d be.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church / Carl Bunderson/CNA
Denver Newsroom, Jan 20, 2022 / 16:19 pm (CNA).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church was released in 1992 after years of development. It has helped generations of Catholics to deepen the… […]
10 Comments
Cry me a river, your Excellencies. If this “freeze” were to become permanent (God willing) you might have to lay off more of your hundreds of D.C. employees, sell off your enormous headquarters, give up your frequent transatlantic jaunts and global vacations, leave your richly appointed mansions, cancel your four-star lunches and – gasp! – confine yourselves to preaching the Gospel.
Is it really a good idea for Catholic Charities, Refugee Services, etc. to be taking money from the government?Why do we do this? Where in scripture do Christ, Apostles, St. Paul, etc. look to the government to support works of charity? Why not rely on appeals and contributions from people in the pew to carry on these charitable works?
The USCCB looks like just another secular group with its hand out to get more $$$ from the government. And, can we be sure that Catholic organizations are not taking money to support wrongdoing or law breaking? as in facilitating illegal immigration?
Charlie USCCB laments the loss of the dollars because the loss will damage the word and reputation of the USCCB. If that is not hypocritically rich, what is?
Sorry Charlie USCCB. You have no one to blame for any loss of word and reputation.
You lost those when you began to take US taxpayer money to fund your ‘charitable’ ‘work.’
These self-righteous sort of bishops ought to thank God for the second chance He gives them in this state of affairs. USCCB ought to return to the mission Jesus commanded of his apostles and their successors. Jesus called his disciples and apostolic successors to a GREAT COMMISSION to preach the word among all NATIONS. Jesus did not command resettling all people of all other nations in ONE. Re-settling illegal immigrants was NOT part of the Great Commission Jesus commanded.
If The Church wishes to resettle illegal migrants, refugees, or hordes of criminally culpable illegal aliens, the government likely will not stop you. BUT For the Roman Catholic Church to ask for government assistance in its ‘work of God’ is a bark up a dry dead tree. It is the RCC asking for a hand-out from the US citizens, and the Constitution does not allow the establishment of any Church, even one which claims it may be the government’s best and most charitable ‘charitable’ arm.
This is great news. Now that the Catholic bishops are suing the Feds, the Justice Drpartment and D.O.G.E. will be granted a discovery motion to audit the files of every diocese in the USA to determine where every dime was spent. If every diocese cannot give a full accounting for every dime handed over, then the dioceses will have to return hundreds of millions of dollars – maybe even billions. I’m hoping that every diocese is bankrupted in the process. I know for a fact that various Catholic agencies receiving money from the Feds have been politicized and are merely front organizations for the leftist Democratic Party. We can begin with CCHD.
Deacon, have you ever heard of the Single Audit Act?
The power of the government to audit churches is ordinarily severely limited. Churches do not fie 990 Forms because that is the flip side of “the wall of separation”-not as commonly believed because they adhere to 501(c)(3).
However as a government accountant (it’s sort of like being an exorcist), I can tell you all government cheese is attached to a string that ties it to the trap. The Bishops are sacrificing the right of the church to have an autonomous existence with their foolish money grab.
The Single Audit Act of 1984—Public Law No. 98-502 and its Amendments of 1996—Public Law No. 104-156, established a standardized and uniform audit process for non-Federal entities that receive and expend Federal funds to administer various Government programs and initiatives. The type of audit created by the Single Audit Act is commonly referred to as a Single Audit.
The provisions of the Single Audit Act were codified by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Uniform Guidance, Subpart F—Audit Requirements. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented the Uniform Guidance in Title 45 CFR Part 75, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for HHS Awards.
A Single Audit is an audit of a non-Federal entity’s financial statements and of its expenditures of Federal awards. Single Audits are conducted in accordance with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, and the requirements of the Uniform Guidance.
Thanks, Pitchfork, for sharing your exorcism expertise!
So are you saying that the Church taking government funds could be rendered totally null, void, debunkt, defunkt, and totally bankrupt if the slack noose-string between the money-cheese and the audit-trap is pulled tight?
Do you know if the USCCB’s charities–Catholic Charities, CRS, or their ilk–ever underwent audit under the Single Audit Act?
US Conference of Catholic Beltway Bandits. Oh, that’s a good one. I was thinking bureaucrats myself, and think the USCCB should be disbanded for that reason. It (USCCB) has turned out Bishops into bureaucrats.
Can pewsitters sue Catholic Bishops in civil court?
I’m half tempted to put a note in my next envelope instead of a check.
Dear Father X:
I would normally make a donation in the the amount of $XXXX for the period. Unfortunately, I believe some of this will be directed to the Bishop and the USCCB.
As I believe they are more concerned with aiding and abetting those violating the laws of the United States; and since the examination of conscience that used to be available in this Parish said adherence to civil law was part of the Fourth Commandment; and since the USCCB is has the money to litigate for the receipt of money to continue aiding and abetting those who violate the law; I will be redirecting my donations to several charities that I think are more concerned with the salvation of souls than Bishop S and his “brother Bishops” including the Bishop of Rome seem to be.
Depends . If the USCCB is suing for services already provided under contract they should be paid. If you hire a contractor to do work for you, and he does it according to the contract he should be paid. Same thing, Unfortunately not all honor contracts and so lawsuits start.
Cry me a river, your Excellencies. If this “freeze” were to become permanent (God willing) you might have to lay off more of your hundreds of D.C. employees, sell off your enormous headquarters, give up your frequent transatlantic jaunts and global vacations, leave your richly appointed mansions, cancel your four-star lunches and – gasp! – confine yourselves to preaching the Gospel.
Is it really a good idea for Catholic Charities, Refugee Services, etc. to be taking money from the government?Why do we do this? Where in scripture do Christ, Apostles, St. Paul, etc. look to the government to support works of charity? Why not rely on appeals and contributions from people in the pew to carry on these charitable works?
The USCCB looks like just another secular group with its hand out to get more $$$ from the government. And, can we be sure that Catholic organizations are not taking money to support wrongdoing or law breaking? as in facilitating illegal immigration?
Charlie USCCB laments the loss of the dollars because the loss will damage the word and reputation of the USCCB. If that is not hypocritically rich, what is?
Sorry Charlie USCCB. You have no one to blame for any loss of word and reputation.
You lost those when you began to take US taxpayer money to fund your ‘charitable’ ‘work.’
These self-righteous sort of bishops ought to thank God for the second chance He gives them in this state of affairs. USCCB ought to return to the mission Jesus commanded of his apostles and their successors. Jesus called his disciples and apostolic successors to a GREAT COMMISSION to preach the word among all NATIONS. Jesus did not command resettling all people of all other nations in ONE. Re-settling illegal immigrants was NOT part of the Great Commission Jesus commanded.
If The Church wishes to resettle illegal migrants, refugees, or hordes of criminally culpable illegal aliens, the government likely will not stop you. BUT For the Roman Catholic Church to ask for government assistance in its ‘work of God’ is a bark up a dry dead tree. It is the RCC asking for a hand-out from the US citizens, and the Constitution does not allow the establishment of any Church, even one which claims it may be the government’s best and most charitable ‘charitable’ arm.
Some sods really ought to get a life.
This is great news. Now that the Catholic bishops are suing the Feds, the Justice Drpartment and D.O.G.E. will be granted a discovery motion to audit the files of every diocese in the USA to determine where every dime was spent. If every diocese cannot give a full accounting for every dime handed over, then the dioceses will have to return hundreds of millions of dollars – maybe even billions. I’m hoping that every diocese is bankrupted in the process. I know for a fact that various Catholic agencies receiving money from the Feds have been politicized and are merely front organizations for the leftist Democratic Party. We can begin with CCHD.
Deacon, have you ever heard of the Single Audit Act?
The power of the government to audit churches is ordinarily severely limited. Churches do not fie 990 Forms because that is the flip side of “the wall of separation”-not as commonly believed because they adhere to 501(c)(3).
However as a government accountant (it’s sort of like being an exorcist), I can tell you all government cheese is attached to a string that ties it to the trap. The Bishops are sacrificing the right of the church to have an autonomous existence with their foolish money grab.
The Single Audit Act of 1984—Public Law No. 98-502 and its Amendments of 1996—Public Law No. 104-156, established a standardized and uniform audit process for non-Federal entities that receive and expend Federal funds to administer various Government programs and initiatives. The type of audit created by the Single Audit Act is commonly referred to as a Single Audit.
The provisions of the Single Audit Act were codified by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Uniform Guidance, Subpart F—Audit Requirements. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented the Uniform Guidance in Title 45 CFR Part 75, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for HHS Awards.
A Single Audit is an audit of a non-Federal entity’s financial statements and of its expenditures of Federal awards. Single Audits are conducted in accordance with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, and the requirements of the Uniform Guidance.
Thanks, Pitchfork, for sharing your exorcism expertise!
So are you saying that the Church taking government funds could be rendered totally null, void, debunkt, defunkt, and totally bankrupt if the slack noose-string between the money-cheese and the audit-trap is pulled tight?
Do you know if the USCCB’s charities–Catholic Charities, CRS, or their ilk–ever underwent audit under the Single Audit Act?
USCCB = United States Conference of Catholic Beltway Bandits. That is what they have become.
US Conference of Catholic Beltway Bandits. Oh, that’s a good one. I was thinking bureaucrats myself, and think the USCCB should be disbanded for that reason. It (USCCB) has turned out Bishops into bureaucrats.
Can pewsitters sue Catholic Bishops in civil court?
I’m half tempted to put a note in my next envelope instead of a check.
Dear Father X:
I would normally make a donation in the the amount of $XXXX for the period. Unfortunately, I believe some of this will be directed to the Bishop and the USCCB.
As I believe they are more concerned with aiding and abetting those violating the laws of the United States; and since the examination of conscience that used to be available in this Parish said adherence to civil law was part of the Fourth Commandment; and since the USCCB is has the money to litigate for the receipt of money to continue aiding and abetting those who violate the law; I will be redirecting my donations to several charities that I think are more concerned with the salvation of souls than Bishop S and his “brother Bishops” including the Bishop of Rome seem to be.
Depends . If the USCCB is suing for services already provided under contract they should be paid. If you hire a contractor to do work for you, and he does it according to the contract he should be paid. Same thing, Unfortunately not all honor contracts and so lawsuits start.