Less than two months into his assignment as pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Savage, the Rev. Benjamin Little recently shouldered the burden of explaining the circumstances under which the parish accepted federal COVID-19 assistance funds in the spring.

"In April, St. John's joined the majority of parishes in the Archdioceses of St. Paul and Minneapolis applying for and receiving funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)," Little wrote in the parish's July 26 weekly bulletin. "St. John's did so after receiving counsel from the Archdiocese and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops general counsel, after reviewing the program and ensuring it was safe for the Catholic Church to participate in the federal government program."

Little said that the pandemic-related assistance funds helped to fend off furloughs.

Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan | Wikipedia

Little was assigned by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis as pastor of Saint John the Baptist on June 10, after he previously served as the parish's parochial administrator. The appointment was a transfer from his previous assignment as pastor the Church of Saint Michael in Farmington.

In the bulletin, Little also shared a letter written by Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, addressed to the "Family of the Archdiocese of New York," in response to what he called "a scurrilous article, heavy on innuendo" published by the Associated Press. Dolan's letter came after Catholic dioceses, parishes, schools, charitable organizations and other such institutions "rightly received" the federal assistance "to pay their employees during the COVID-19 crisis," according to his letter.

Dolan's letter is not dated but clearly refers to a July 10 AP news story that claims the Roman Catholic Church "used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules" to lobby for and get at least $1.4 billion in coronavirus-based assistance. The news story claimed that "many millions" of dollars went to dioceses "that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups." 

The article also claimed that that the Archdiocese of New York alone received at least $28 million in loans "for its top executive offices" and that St. Patrick's Cathedral "was approved for at least $1 million." In his detailed letter, Dolan defended using the federal assistance funds and criticized the AP for the news story.

"Many news outlets picked up the story, which implied that there was something amiss in Catholic institutions receiving paycheck protection money," Dolan wrote. "Many of you have called or emailed me, wanting to know if the story was true. My answer, quite simply, is absolutely not. It was misleading at best, outright false at worst."

In his own remarks, Little said that St. John's use of the federal pandemic assistance funds also was appropriate.

"The purpose of the funds was to help organizations continue their commitment to their employees and help pay payroll costs," Little said. "I'm pleased to share that St. John's was able to keep all of its staff fully employed and not have to consider any furloughs or terminations due to the pandemic to this point."