After we reported in December 2020, “Trinity Foundation Investigation: $78.6 Million in Government Guaranteed Loans Given to Televangelists“, more reporters did a lot more digging. Earlier this year, AP investigators, REESE DUNKLIN and MICHAEL REZENDES, reported that Catholic dioceses around the US requested and received millions in taxpayer aid from COVID emergency Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) funds while maintaining billions in cash and reserves.
In one particular case, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, NC received over $8 million in relief funds while they had roughly $100 million in cash and short-term investments available. It’s interesting to note in regards to Catholic’s share of PPP funds that, “Catholic entities amassed at least $3 billion — roughly the same as the combined total of recipients from the other faiths that rounded out the top five, AP found. Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Jewish faith-based recipients also totaled at least $3 billion.
Catholics account for about a fifth of the U.S. religious population while members of Protestant and Jewish denominations are nearly half, according to the Pew Research Center.”, according to the article. (Read more here)
Trinity Foundation also reported in May 2021 that, in 2020, Trinity Broadcasting of Texas received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loan of $3,308,005. The Texas-based non-profit also reported $30 million in donations, $24 million in revenue from selling airtime, and $17 million of investment income. Their total revenue for the 2019 year was $933,330,134!