Dear CV Friend,

Something really important just happened.

And you may not have realized it.

As you know, the government-imposed quarantines and
shelter-in-place orders have shuttered nearly every Catholic
parish in America. That means no masses. No sacraments. And it
also means no collections. For this reason, many Catholic
parishes and schools are nearly out of money -- with many now
considering layoffs, or even potential closure.

And this is only the beginning. Some states are considering
banning religious services for several more weeks, or even
months...

Without help, it is very likely that many parishes WILL NOT
survive.

Thankfully the new CARES Act signed by President Trump provides
emergency relief not just for small businesses, but for
nonprofits, too. Under new approved rules, parishes and schools
are now eligible to apply for a forgivable loan offered through
the "Paycheck Protection Program" (PPP) as long as each parish
and school does not have more than 500 employees. This loan can
cover 2.5 months of payroll and utility expenses as long as the
nonprofit organization maintains its monthly payroll.

But here's the critical part...

Republican leaders in Congress and the Senate worked with the
Trump administration to make sure most Catholic schools and
parishes would qualify with two specific clarifications:

Many parishes and schools feared they would be classified
together with all parishes in their diocese as one large
corporation, and therefore be ineligible for aid. Thankfully,
Senators Josh Hawley, R-MO, and James Lankford, R-OK, worked with
the Trump administration to clarify that faith-based
organizations that affiliate with another organization (like a
diocese) because of their "religious beliefs about church
authority or internal constitution, or because the legal,
financial, or other structural relationships between them reflect
an expression of such beliefs," can be treated as stand-alone
organizations and qualify for the loan relief funds.

This ruling was clarified 4 days ago and is a huge win for
Catholic parishes and schools!

But there's more. And this may be the most important
clarification:

Qualifying Catholic nonprofits, including parishes and schools,
will not be discriminated against based on our religious beliefs.
This means these programs are neutral "generally applicable loan
programs" that cannot force Catholic organizations to surrender
their religious identity or beliefs in order to qualify. "No
otherwise eligible organization will be disqualified from
receiving a loan because of the religious nature, religious
identity, or religious speech of the organization," said the
Small Business Administration in a statement.

This kind of thing doesn't just happen by accident.

Can you imagine if Hillary Clinton was President!

We don't have to imagine actually...

After all, Hillary Clinton said in 2015, that "deep-seated
cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to
be changed."

And what about Joe Biden? Who can forget the Obama-Biden
Administration's shameful pursuit of the Little Sisters of the
Poor? Or their 11th hour rule that disqualified Catholic
adoption and foster care programs from receiving federal grants
because of our time-honored belief in marriage...or their
notorious rule of having a federal bureaucracy decide if a
Catholic university was "Catholic" enough to claim religious
liberty.

In fact, left-wing atheist groups are already suing to try and
stop the new relief funds from reaching religious organizations.
They want this pandemic to bring the church to her knees.

TRUTH: Had this crisis occurred with a Democratic President in
office, many of our Catholic parishes and schools would now face
a terrible choice: surrender their beliefs to the government --
or shut their doors.

I have no doubt the Left would have used this pandemic to shut
down Catholic parishes and schools and to permanently close
Catholic charities. The LGBT lobby would have never allowed
these funds to flow to religious groups without strict
"anti-discrimination" rules. It could well have been the end of
the Catholic Church in America as we know it.

This pandemic is truly a once-in-a-century type event. And
without emergency economic intervention, the restrictions now
imposed on the country have the potential to wipe out entire
industries and segments of our society.

Don't think for a moment that Catholic parishes and charities
will be magically resistant.

These loans are truly a lifesaver.

Critics of the President often mock his defense of religious
liberty. Yet his decision to make sure nonprofit religious
organizations qualify for this critical relief may turn out to be
the most significant policy for Catholics of his entire first
term in office.

Every bishop and pastor knows how important these funds will be.

When they return to saying public masses, I hope they will thank
the President.

He deserves it.

Brian


RESOURCES:

Catholic News Agency
[link removed]

Small Business Administration (SBA) Overview of Program
[link removed]



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