(RNS) — Less than two weeks after many U.S. bishops made a strong show of support for the conference’s domestic anti-poverty initiative, staff members from that initiative and others were laid off on Monday (June 24) as part of a restructuring of the wing of the conference that supports Catholic social teaching.
Chieko Noguchi, the spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, confirmed layoffs and a restructuring of the department of Justice, Peace & Human Development in a statement to Religion News Service. “The reorganization will allow the Conference to align resources more closely with recent funding trends,” Noguchi wrote.
The department includes programs focused on international policy, domestic policy, environmental justice, racism, education and outreach, as well as the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, an office supervising grants to U.S. community organizations working on systemic solutions to poverty issues. The future of CCHD was a major topic of debate at the most recent bishops’ meeting; however, the wider cuts to the department of Justice, Peace & Human Development came as a shock to many.
“Why in a world at war, a nation with pervasive poverty, are the leaders of the conference minimizing the Conference’ commitments to overcome poverty, work for justice and pursue peace?” asked John Carr, the former director of the department for more than 20 years, in an email to RNS.
Richard Wood, a sociologist and president of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California, called it “a disinvestment in important Catholic mission work.”
“Cuts are sometimes necessary for fiscal reasons, but these particular cuts weaken an infrastructure for the broad mission of the church that’s been built up over decades that a lot of people care about passionately, including a lot of young Catholics,” Wood said.
Multiple people with ties to the conference told RNS they had been informed staffing across the department was cut by 50%. Noguchi did not provide further details about the number of staff laid off and the initiatives they had worked on.
“We’re grateful for the time and dedication of Conference staff and recognize that transitions are difficult; as this is a personnel matter, further detail will not be discussed at this time. Please join us in praying for these colleagues,” Noguchi wrote.
Several former leaders of JPHD offices questioned the financial rationale for the layoffs and restructuring.
“It’s about mission, not money,” said Carr, who now serves as founder of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. “It’s whether the bishops’ conference continues to prioritize issues of poverty, justice and peace or retreat to focus on internal matters.”
Stephen Colecchi, who led the Office of International Justice and Peace, one part of the department, from 2004 to 2018, told RNS that the national collection funding international policy work had recovered since a decline in donations due to the pandemic. “In fact, all the collections are recovering,” he said.
“I don’t see how the financial argument works,” he added.
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