Washington Post Columnist Takes on Vice President’s Claims Against USCCB
By: Steven Schwankert
Kathleen Parker defended the USCCB and Catholic Charities in a February 7 op-ed
Accusations of improper conduct against the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) by Vice President JD Vance, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s response to them, have drawn the attention of a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post, who praised and defended the USCCB and Catholic Charities’ work in an opinion piece published February 7.
In a column titled “JD Vance lances the bishops but no checkmate,” Kathleen Parker, who writes about politics and culture, noted that Vance had accused the USCCB of profiting from the resettlement of illegal immigrants in the United States.
“In response, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who gave the invocation at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, called the remarks ‘scurrilous,’ ‘nasty’ and ‘not true.’ He also said he was ‘somewhat hurt.’ Dolan, 75, has spent his life in service, and his endearing everyman admission of bruised feelings spoke volumes about his character and humility,” Parker wrote.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, made his remarks on the CBS News show “Face the Nation,” on January 26.
Through Catholic Charities, the USCCB not only distributes but also supplements federal funding for refugees and migrants, Parker noted.
“Catholic Charities does receive federal funding for its migration and refugee programs. Contrary to Vance’s implication, however, the group overspends this allotment and makes up the difference with donations, grants, and other charitable contributions. An audit of the USCCB’s financial statements from 2014 to 2023 showed that the conference took in $797 million in government funds during that period and spent $850 million on its programs,” she wrote.
The columnist chided the vice president for unfairly accusing the USCCB of malfeasance.
“It’s clear now that Vance blundered in equating the bishops’ charity with greed. And it’s a shame because Catholic Charities does the thankless, essential work that most of us ignore or wouldn’t touch,” she wrote.
Parker concluded, writing, “For the record, Dolan was right.”
Read the full column here.