Cardinal Cupich: USAID freeze ‘could actually cause death’
February 20, 2025
» Continue to this story on Vatican News
CWN Editor's Note: Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago spoke out against the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding to the US Agency for International Development.
“While a government has the right and duty to ensure taxpayer funds are spent wisely, freezing that aid, even before any such review, adds to the suffering of people who are starving, homeless and threatened by disease,” he said. “A crippled USAID is not making timely payments for past and current work in these life-saving programs, perhaps causing permanent damage to the ability of humanitarian aid groups to save lives.”
In his article—first published for his archdiocese, then republished by Vatican News—Cardinal Cupich stated that “more than half” of Catholic Relief Services’ budget “has come from USAID contracts. Cut a charity’s budget in half, and you halve the amount of help it can provide.”
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Posted by: feedback -
Feb. 20, 2025 6:43 AM ET USA
For starters, a Church charity should never depend on handouts from a secretive organization funneling Americans' tax dollars. The newly elected government's audit revealed how many of the handouts from the USAID money pit have been wasteful or shady, or a combination of both. Many handouts had subversive moral and cultural strings attached. Musk compared USAID to an "apple full of worms." Most taxpayers see the audit and the freeze beneficial. A good shepherd should be on the side of the flock.
