Church and State

Joanie Wentz, vice president of development and communications for the organization [Catholic Charities], insisted the closure was not related to the July 1 incident. She said the St. Michael's program, which is approaching its 25th anniversary, suffered a $1 million cut from the federal government in the last budget, reducing the number of beds from 88 to 52 and resulting in the layoffs of 19 employees.