“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.” —Proverbs 19:17
And a unanimous US Supreme Court decision, seconded this month by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, confirms it.
Founded in 1917, the Catholic Charities Bureau operates more than 50 programs in northwest Wisconsin and serves more than 10,500 people annually, regardless of faith or background. Bishop James Powers of Wisconsin’s Diocese of Superior said caring for the poor is an act of faith central to Catholic belief, even though Catholic teaching forbids religious instruction or proselytization in charitable work.
And that was the point: They were also caring for people who weren’t Catholics.
“Wisconsin shouldn’t have picked this fight in the first place.”
Under Wisconsin law, nonprofits operated primarily for a religious purpose are generally exempt from the state’s unemployment compensation program. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, however, initially ruled that Catholic Charities was not exempt because it serves everyone, not just Catholics.
Helping people of all faiths, apparently, wasn’t religious enough for the state court. If Catholic Charities wanted to be exempt, the court inferred, just stop hiring non-Catholics, and if you must care for the poor and needy who aren’t Catholics, at least try to convert them. This, however, is not in the Catholic Charities’ job description—nor is it anywhere in the Bible: “Blessed are the poor … provided they belong to your church or are open to signing up.”
The Becket Fund, the legal nonprofit representing Catholic Charities, called the court’s reasoning “absurd” and argued the matter up to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).
On June 5, 2025, SCOTUS unanimously agreed, ruling that Wisconsin violated the First Amendment by discriminating against Catholic Charities on account of its religious exercise. According to the opinion, authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Wisconsin violated the Constitution in “impos[ing] a denominational preference by differentiating between religions based on theological choices.” The decision further acknowledged that “whether to express and inculcate religious doctrine through worship, proselytization, or religious education when performing charitable work are, again, fundamentally theological choices driven by the content of different religious doctrines.”
In reversing the state high court’s original ruling, the Supreme Court remanded the matter back to that court.
But Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul wasn’t done. After the federal ruling, he urged the state supreme court to eliminate the religious exemption entirely rather than apply it to Catholic Charities.
In response, other faiths, including the Church of Scientology International, joined an amicus curiae brief with the Wisconsin Supreme Court, requesting the exemption remain in place. And the court obliged on December 15, siding with Catholic Charities, the amicus signatories and the US Constitution itself.
“Wisconsin shouldn’t have picked this fight in the first place,” said Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “It was always absurd to claim that Catholic Charities wasn’t religious because it helps everyone, no matter their religion. Today, the Court resoundingly reaffirmed a fundamental truth of our constitutional order: The First Amendment protects all religious beliefs, not just those the government favors.”
