Posted on 11/06/2012 1:53:30 PM PST by NYer
WASHINGTON, D.C., November 5, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – A liberal pressure group has accused the U.S. Catholic bishops of breaking tax law by faithfully proclaiming the non-negotiable issues of Church teaching, including the right to life.
These teachings, the organization argues, disadvantage President Barack Obama.
On Friday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked for “an immediate Internal Revenue Service investigation into the activities of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops for using their position as leaders of the Catholic Church to persuade parishioners to vote against Barack Obama in Tuesday’s election.”
The USCCB “may be engaged in prohibited electioneering,” which would require the IRS to revoke its 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt status, according to CREW.
The complaint cites letters written by Bishops including Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, David Ricken of Green Bay, Edward Burns of Juneau, and Paul S. Loverde of Arlington.
None of the bishops endorse a candidate. However, each reminded Catholics of the importance of preserving religious freedom against the HHS mandate, protecting innocent life, and defending the institution of marriage.
Often portrayed as a “non-partisan watchdog,” CREW’s complaints fall heavily upon conservative and Republican targets.
Executive Director Melanie Sloan served as Nominations Counsel for then-Senator Joe Biden’s Senate Judiciary Committee in 1993.
CREW is funded by George Soros’ Open Society Institute, as well as the Democracy Alliance, the Tides Foundation, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
The left-leaning group has regularly challenged the tax-exempt status of groups whose views it does not favor.
Its intent is to “harass and try to intimidate the Catholic Church,” Deal Hudson, president of Pennsylvania Catholics Network, told LifeSiteNews.com.
Frivolous complaints and lawsuits have “the double effect of getting good people to be timid and secondly to provide arguments for the pro-abortion Catholics to try to argue that to defend Church teaching is partisan,” Hudson said.
“There are good people who simply will hold back, because they simply can’t afford that kind of legal defense.” he said.“Bill Donohue’s Catholic League had to spend several hundred thousand dollars defending itself after 2008. Archbishop Chaput, when he was at Denver, had to spend nearly $50,000 defending himself after 2008.”
Although the Catholic bishops’ stuck to the issues, a few priests – and many Protestant clergy – have openly defied the 1954 tax ordinance and endorsed a political candidate from the pulpit.
Nearly 1,600 pastors took part in last month’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday, arranged by the Alliance Defending Freedom. The IRS has not yet investigated any participating church.
Hudson said that makes CREW’s complaint more transparent.
“If this were Great Britain and these groups had to pay when they lost, there wouldn’t be a single lawsuit, because they know they will lose,” Hudson concluded. “They know it’s bogus.”
The answer should be so what?
free speech is still free speech
If tax-funded organizations can run campaigns for Obama then how is this a problem?
Guilty as charged. What did Obama expect when he forced the Church to pay for abortions?
Perfectly legal. CREW's claims to the contrary are lies and delight the Father of Lies.
And do black churches ever brazenly support Obama from the pulpit? Has that open practice stopped? Or do the rules only apply to us?
The IRS came out just last week and said they have no authority in the tax code concerning religion and politics.
This is being pushed by a legal group and pastors purposely challenging the mistaken idea that priests can’t advise puritioners about voting from the pulpit.
GREAT NEWS!
Way to go Bishops. (ala Alexis de Tocqueville)
May God bless and keep these brave clergy.
The churches shaking off the shackles really has the left rattled.
Good.
> These teachings, the organization argues, disadvantage
> President Barack Obama.
It’s Barky’s choice to go against the Bible.
It’s the CHurch’s job to PREACH the Bible.
The Constitution guarantees the Church free EXERCISE of religion. Exercise is what you DO, not just what you think.
The IRS will not enforce this law, which was written by Lyndon Baynes Johnson and passed in 1954,
If they try to enforce it, they know the court will overturn it.
To Melanie Sloan: WE WILL NOT BE BULLIED BY YOUR STALINIST TACTICS ANY MORE.
And you’re UGLY too!
As soon as we see some prosecution of leftist “electioneering”, like the poll workers openly campaigning for 0bama,
come talk to us.
Until then, just blow it out your nether orifices.
Soros has been electioneering for Satan, so...tough noogies.
But it’s perfectly okay for Obama to push his mandate on us Catholics? Cry me a river and kiss my butt.
No US politician had ever dared to command a church to do something like Obamacare’s provisions before. What do you think was going to happen.
Democrat but told Raymond he will be voting for Romney. The Demorats have taken the Catholic vote for granted, and they are mad.
Said that he has spoken with many Democratic Union Worker (rank and file) and they are voting for Romney.
Mr. Soros would dearly love to SQUASH the Catholic Church. The Church stands in the way of his vision for the world.
If they did they sure as heck did not do it very effectively. The Voter Guide put out in our diocesan paper was a muddled mish-mash of concern over the Obamacare mandate, mixed in generously with Social Justice concerns, Immigration amnesty, etc. In the end it was hard to tell just who they wanted you to vote for.
The complaint cites letters written by Bishops including Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, David Ricken of Green Bay, Edward Burns of Juneau, and Paul S. Loverde of Arlington.
Only four? Sad.
They should probably be deported somewhere else. Didn't David Duke find a home? If he did, they can!
No, they’re just saying, this is what we can support, and this is what we can’t. If Mitt is just about right according to what they’re saying, and Barry sucks, whose fault is that?
My pastor (in West Virginia) read excerpts from Bishop Jenky’s letter and some comments from Francis Cardinal George, tying them together with the First Reading and Gospel about the commandments. Very well done ... and these letters get a hearing far from the diocese in which they are written.
Sadly our Spineless Bishop DeLorenzo, only co-signed the letter from the bishopf Arlington in the Catholic Paper, he didn’t have the priests read anything in Mass.
Sell the cathedrals, put the taxes into the budget, and preach the Gospel. If that is what it takes, do it. My own congregation has had some talk of the same.
If they’re going to cr@p all over the church with thier anti-Christian policies, what makes them think the church won’t scrape it off and fling it back? ......”He who soweth spairingly, reapeth spairingly....”.
Headline says Bishops Electioneering...Wish the hell they were.. that bishops letter was hardly inflamatory ....I had members place a car top sign on their vehicle in the church parking lot facing the entrance posted at each of our 3 Sunday masses without getting pastors approval. Some of our “leading catholics” had demo-com yard signs at their residences, promoting every candidate. In fact one who serves as an usher busily chewed out the parrishoner who put that sign up....Parrish is in central Wisconsin LaCrosse diocease.
Won’t know if it did any good till count comes in.
To ask that question is to answer it.
Ak Kresta said today that while 50% of self-identified Catholics voted for Obama this time, this was down by 4% from 2008. 59% of practicing Catholics voted for Romney, which is up 4-5%. If the bishops presses their attack, the percent of the latter will continue to arise. But it suggests that in the past the Church has failed to look closely at the issues. The focus should be on religious liberty. That might make some liberal Catholic congressmen and senators tell the administration not to extend their mandate lest Catholics in their district begin to turn against them. If the local party seems them weakened, it might replace them with secularists.
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