(Liberty Nation)—The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, DC, has announced broad layoffs and spending cuts that reflect ongoing fiscal struggles within the Catholic Church. Slowed church attendance during the COVID pandemic, an anemic economy, and scores of sex abuse claims against clergy have battered coffers. The archdiocese’s struggles in the nation’s capital mirror efforts to surmount challenges to faith as well as finances.
Fiscal Penance?
Dozens of US Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy oversight due to sex abuse violations, which spiked after many states relaxed statutes of limitations to permit claims. With church attendance rebounding and most abuse cases settled, Catholic churches across the country seek to reconcile past transgressions with continuing service to the needy. Concurrently, future priest abuses may be better policed by state laws that compel clergy to report knowledge of sexual abuse, even if gained through the sacrament of confession.
Revelations that Catholic Relief Services was the top recipient of USAID funding, amounting to some $4.6 billion from 2013 to 2022, suggest that ancillary money to individual Catholic churches could take a fiscal hit, but the DC diocese has been struggling for years. In a June 5 letter announcing spending cuts including at least 30 layoffs, Cardinal Robert McElroy revealed the diocese has suffered losses of some $10 million annually for the past five years, which he attributed to “the financial impacts of the pandemic and the fallout of the [former cardinal and leader of the archdiocese Theodore] McCarrick scandal, coupled with an extended period of inflation and volatile financial markets.”
This diocese featured prominently in the priest abuse scandal. Former Cardinal McCarrick, who passed away in Missouri on April 3, was a notorious sex offender of young boys and seminarians. His pernicious behavior had been reported but suppressed for decades, a blow to trust in the clergy and to the Church’s finances. Had he not been installed as DC’s archbishop from 2001 to 2006, victim trauma and monetary awards could have been prevented. Many prominent Catholic clergy strongly opposed McCarrick’s ascension to the position. Still, he appealed to Pope John Paul II, claiming “in the 70 years of my life, I have never had sexual relations with any person, male or female, young or old, cleric or lay, nor have I ever abused another person or treated them with disrespect.” His flagrant denials persisted even after he was defrocked following a canonical trial.
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Why One Survival Food Company Shines Above the Rest
Let’s be real. “Prepper Food” or “Survival Food” is generally awful. The vast majority of companies that push their cans, bags, or buckets desperately hope that their customers never try them and stick them in the closet or pantry instead. Why? Because if the first time they try them is after the crap hits the fan, they’ll be too shaken to call and complain about the quality.
It’s true. Most long-term storage food is made with the cheapest possible ingredients with limited taste and even less nutritional value. This is why they tout calories so much. Sure, they provide calories but does anyone really want to go into the apocalypse with food their family can’t stand?
This is what prompted the Llewellyns to launch Heaven’s Harvest. They bought survival food from multiple companies and determined they couldn’t imagine being stuck in an extended emergency with such low-quality food. They quickly discovered that freeze drying food for long-term storage doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor, consistency, or nutrition.
Their ingredients are all-American. In fact, they’re locally sourced and all-natural! This allows their products to be the highest quality on the market, so good that their customers often break open a bag in a pinch to eat because they want to, not just because they have to due to an emergency.
At Heaven’s Harvest, their only focus is amazing food. They don’t sell bugout bags, solar chargers, or multitools. They have one mission – feeding Americans in times of crisis.
What they DO offer is the ability for people to thrive in times of greatest need. On top of long-term storage food, they offer seeds to help Americans for the truly long-term. They want them to grow their own food if possible which is why they offer only Heirloom, Non-GMO, Non-Hybrid, Open-Pollinated seeds so their customers can build permanent food security on their own property.
