USCCB welcomes Supreme Court decision on Catholic Charities

June 06, 2025

The chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty.welcomed the US Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision in Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission (CWN coverage).

Earlier, the Wisconsin Supreme Court had “badly erred when it concluded that Catholic Charities is essentially secular because it does not engage in activities such as proselytism,” said Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne—South Bend, Indiana. “I am grateful for the decision of the US Supreme Court.”

He added:

The Catholic Charities agency of the Diocese of Superior applied for a religious exemption from the state’s unemployment tax program so that it could participate instead in a church-run program that offers the same level of benefits. Catholic Charities was denied the exemption, because according to the state, it is not religious. This was a ludicrous claim, and the Court has rightly reversed.

The Court has unanimously affirmed that the government cannot discriminate against our ministries simply because they do not conform to the government’s narrow idea of religion. I am grateful the Court has recognized that basic principle here.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the Court’s opinion; Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Clarence Thomas filed concurring opinions (excerpts).

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Catholic Charities is Catholic, says Bishop Rhoades (USCCB)
• Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission (Supreme Court)
• Supreme Court: Wisconsin's Religious Nonprofit Exemption from Unemployment Comp. Tax Must Include Catholic Charities (Religion Clause)