BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: In congressional hearings this week, more complaints about the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. Meanwhile, religious groups have been given high marks for their relief work. Large religion-based organizations such as Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army have long received government funds, prompting other, smaller ones to ask why they shouldn't get help, too.

The president's faith-based initiative has tried to change the rules to permit that, and Kim Lawton reports that Katrina has given that initiative a new boost.

KIM LAWTON: Hours after Hurricane Katrina's fury subsided, faith-based groups were on the scene, providing desperately needed help in the emergency rescue and relief operations, all as part of their religious mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: This is a way we can minister to the people -- by giving them a hot meal.

LAWTON: Their highly praised efforts are generating new momentum in the battle over whether the government should expand its funding of religious social services.

PAM PRYOR (Vice President, We Care America): If a faith-based group is actually doing the best job at administering a service, why not? It's more economical. Katrina definitely proved that these folks know how to do what they do, and they know how to do it well and quickly.

LAWTON: But those who favor a strict separation between church and state are urging caution.

K. HOLLYN HOLLMAN (General Counsel, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty): I think it's very unfortunate that some people would use this tragedy to advance a policy that's been extremely controversial. I don't think this should be an opportunity to fundamentally change the way we do church-state relations.

LAWTON: President Bush has been pushing his faith-based initiative forward using changes in government regulations. But the administration has not had much success on Capitol Hill turning the initiative into law. Both critics and proponents are gearing up for new legislative battles in the weeks ahead.

Pam Pryor is vice president of We Care America, a group that advocates more partnerships between the government and religious organizations.

Ms. PRYOR: I think there's wonderful fertile ground for pushing more of the faith-based initiative and embedding it legislatively. Right now it's only by executive order. It's my hope that we could actually codify this.

LAWTON: An important advance happened in late December. President Bush signed a law allowing private schools, including religious schools, to get federal aid as part of hurricane recovery measures.

Father Michael Jacques of St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in New Orleans has long supported such aid. He says it's needed now more than ever because virtually all the Catholic schools in his city are operational, compared to less than 15 percent of the public schools.

Reverend MICHAEL JACQUES (St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, New Orleans): This is a real justice issue for me. It's not just a matter of constitutional things. Should there be public education? Definitely. Should it be better than what it is? Oh, it has to be. But right now in this city there are very few public schools that are open. The only people providing this education right now have been the Catholic schools. They have opened their doors free of charge.

LAWTON: The new law applies only in the current school year, but opponents fear it could open the door to more widespread voucher programs.

Ms. HOLLMAN: We need to be careful about creating exceptions that will later be expanded and actually swallow up the rule. With regard to education, government's first duty is to fund the public schools -- those schools that take all students, wherever they are and without regard to their financial resources or their religious tradition.

LAWTON: Another controversial question is whether the government should reimburse religious groups for the emergency work they did during Katrina. Louisiana Democratic state legislator Sharon Weston Broome is working to make that happen.

Senator SHARON WESTON BROOME (Louisiana State Senate): I think that the churches responded not because they were expecting to get reimbursed. But in the recovery effort, in the relief effort, they were led to believe that they probably would be candidates for reimbursements.

LAWTON: So far, those reimbursements have been bogged down by bureaucratic questions, such as what the requirements should be for religious agencies.

Ms. PRYOR: This just shows the need for coordinating with those folks, for having a clear definition of regulations. Right now people are kind of out there just making it up on their own, and I don't think that's a good way to run a government or a faith-based organization.