Charity is the key to our Catholic faith. The Supreme Court will hear this case

Today, March 31, my diocese will be in front of the Supreme Court of the United States To defend our right to continue our ten -year mission to serve the most vulnerable. It is shocking that it was to reach this. However, Wisconsin officials try to prevent our efforts by claiming that this ministry of charity is not religious.

Guided by Catholic social teaching And the commands of Christ, the Catholic dioceses throughout the country provide a vital and loving cure for the needy. In fact, as Pope Francis reminds us, “for the Church, a preference for the poor is not optional”.

This fundamental principle of Catholic social teaching calls us to give priority to the disadvantaged in all aspects of our work. In the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, We respond to the call of Christ to serve with compassion through the work of our Catholic charity bureau. For over a century, this ministry has been a source of hope and care for thousands of near elderly, poor and disabled.

The doctors of Pope Francis took into consideration the end of the treatment, they said that “there was a real risk that could not do it”: relationship

Through Catholic beneficial organizations, the Church can offer life skills, professional training, workplace services, low -income senior accommodation, adult supports with special needs, personal care and independent life assistance. Catholic beneficial organizations improve the human condition by treating each person with dignity of a created in the image of God, as if we took care of Christ himself.

The United States Supreme Court will be the site of a new battle for religious freedom. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Last year, most of the Wisconsin’s Supreme Court – putting the blinders – said that Catholic charitable organizations are not managed mainly for religious purposes. Basically, the Court has achieved this conclusion because it stated that our charity awareness is not a “typical” religious activity.

This deeply disappointing sentence meant that Catholic charitable organizations were forced to continue paying in the state unemployment performance program. This also means that Catholic beneficial organizations cannot join the best and efficient unemployment program of the Wisconsin Catholic Church. We remain still in our mission, but this decision challenges our ability to live the call of Christ to serve faithfully at the center of everything we do.

Click here for further opinions of Fox News

Above all, the decision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court damages those who rely on our ministries. If not correct, the Catholic charitable organizations will be forced to continue to deviate its precious resources to cover the costs associated with participation in the state program.

As administrators of the generous gifts they made us, we always try to guarantee that we can maximize their direct impact instead of being spent in state programs intentionally designed to exclude religious organizations such as ours.

But what concerns me most about this decision is the reasoning at the base. The Court suggests that Catholic charitable organizations would be more religious if they only hired Catholics and tried to convert those needed. This will get our faith and the heart of our mission.

True Christian charity does not separate the “deserving” from the “unwilling”, nor is it a means of proselytism. Instead, it flows from love, as Sant’Agostino teaches, “a virtue that … unites us with God, because we love it from it”.

Click here to get the Fox News App

The good Samaritan did not question the faith of the injured man; He saw the need and replied with mercy. This is the example that Catholic beneficial organizations have embraced for over a century, and it is the spirit in which we will continue to serve the most vulnerable among us. It doesn’t matter how others define our work, our devotion to lift the needy will remain firm and rooted in love.

With the support of the Becket Fund for religious freedom, our diocese brought this case before the United States Supreme Court last autumn. Today, the judges will evaluate whether the narrow vision of Wisconsin on what constitutes the “religion” can resist control. We hope and pray that the judges recognize the sincere faith in the center of our ministry.