Six-figure grant to Catholics United tried to recruit clergy

The education fund of Catholics United, a Democrat-leaning group that has clashed with the bishops on several prominent issues, received a grant worth almost its entire 2011 budget to recruit Catholic clergy in key swing states to support the Environmental Protection Agency.

The San Francisco-based Energy Foundation gave a $116,000 grant to the Catholics United Education Fund in November 2011 “to recruit and engage Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota” in support of the EPA’s “regulatory authority.”

The Catholics United Education Fund’s 2011 tax forms show total revenue of $116,200 for the year.

James Salt, executive director of the group, told CNA April 23 that The Energy Foundation supported the education fund’s work to teach Catholics what Salt characterized as “Pope Benedict XVI’s and Pope Francis’ elevation of environmental stewardship as a key priority for Catholics.”