It should be noted that most churches DO NOT pay taxes. (by r. a.)

The Mind Unleashed.com ———–By John Vibes —————Fri., Dec.18, 2020

Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church received a $4.4 million loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, as part of the federal CARES Act that was intended to be a stimulus to keep businesses and employees afloat while the pandemic kept everyone at home.

Churches were also eligible for the money, and some of the most prestigious churches in the country took advantage of the opportunity.

Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church was not on the initial list of recipients and claimed that they did not apply to receive any money. However, the church later applied and was granted $4.4 million, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Osteen himself is estimated to have a net worth of over $50 million, with his church taking in $43 million a year in collections.

Meanwhile, many small business owners who attempted to get funding through the federal Paycheck Protection Program found that the money had dried up within a week of the program’s launch.

It turned out that large publicly traded corporations were the first to gain access to the loans because they had teams of lawyers on standby who already had a working relationship with the government.

Large corporations like Shake Shack and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse received millions in PPP loans, but were later forced to return the money after a massive public outcry was sparked by their applications.

It was also revealed that over 9,000 Catholic churches were approved for the loans. However, the Vatican, which is the global head of the Catholic Church, is one of the most wealthy organizations in the world.

While their exact holdings have been called “impossible to calculate“, bankers estimate that the Vatican has been 10 and 15 billion dollars in cash, land, and investments alone.

Full article here: https://themindunleashed.com/2020/12/joel-osteens-church-received-4-4-million-in-stimulus-payments.html