Next Week: Catholic Charities at Supreme Court to defend mission to serve Justices to hear arguments on whether Catholic Charities’ care for the needy is religious

WASHINGTON – Catholic Charities Bureau of the Diocese of Superior will be at the Supreme Court next week asking the Court to confirm that its care for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled is part of its religious mission. In Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled last year that Catholic Charities’ ministry to the poor and needy was not “typical” religious activity. This meant that Catholic Charities could not join the Wisconsin Catholic Church’s unemployment compensation program but was stuck paying into the state’s less efficient and more costly plan (Watch this video to learn more). Represented by Becket, Catholic Charities will ask the Justices on Monday to protect its freedom to join the Church program.  

Most Catholic dioceses have a social ministry arm that serves those in need. Catholic Charities carries out this important work for the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, by helping the disabled, elderly, and those living in poverty—regardless of their faith. This belief that ministry to those in need should not be limited to Catholics flows directly from Catholic social teaching and is embodied in the Church’s beliefs about the “corporal works of mercy”—physical acts like feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless.   

Under Wisconsin law, non-profits that are operated primarily for a religious purpose are generally exempt from the state’s unemployment compensation program. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, however, ruled that Catholic Charities was not exempt because it serves everyone, not just Catholics. The court said that Catholic Charities could qualify for an exemption if it limited its hiring to Catholics and tried to convert those it served to Catholicism—even though the Catholic Church teaches that care for the poor cannot be conditioned on acceptance of the Church’s teachings.   

What:  
Oral Argument in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission
  
Arguing before the Court:  
Eric Rassbach, vice president & senior counsel at Becket 
  
When:  
Monday, March 31, 2025, at 10 a.m. ET 

Where:  
The Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20543

Link to livestream audio: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/live.aspx 

Becket attorneys will be available for comment outside the Court following the argument.   

For more information or to arrange an interview with a Becket attorney, contact Ryan Colby at [email protected] or 202-349-7219.