By Jeff Schapiro,
Christian Post Reporter
September 11, 2012|4:16 pm
A church-state watchdog group has reported a Roman Catholic Church
in El Paso, Texas, to the Internal Revenue Service after the church allegedly
ran a notice in its bulletin that encouraged parishioners not to vote for
President Barack Obama
in the upcoming presidential election.
"The language
that appeared in the bulletin – an official publication of the church – clearly
encourages parishioners to vote against incumbent presidential candidate Barack
Obama," Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, said in his letter to the IRS concerning St.
Raphael Catholic Church.
"Since federal
law prohibits tax exempt, non-profit organizations (including houses of worship) from intervening
in elections like this, I believe St. Raphael Church is in violation of the
law."
Americans United
admits that it does not have an actual copy of the notice in question, which
was distributed on Aug. 5, though the organization says the church does not
deny having published the notice.
"I am asking all
of you to go to the polls and be united in replacing our present president with
a president that will respect the Catholic Church in this country," the
notice said, according to Americans United. "Please pass this on to all of
your Catholic friends."
Federal law prohibits
nonprofit organizations from intervening in any political campaign by making
public statements either for or against any candidate. Violating this law can
result in the revocation of a nonprofit's tax-exempt status and other penalties
should the organization be found guilty.
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The El Paso Times
reports that Msgr. Francis J. Smith, the pastor of St. Raphael, had a message
of retraction inserted into the church's bulletins on Sunday after the Diocese
of El Paso was made aware of the situation last week.
"I am recanting
the last two sentences from this statement as it was published on Aug. 5,
2012," the message says, according to the Times. "I apologize and ask
for your forgiveness if I have offended anyone. The last thing I wish to do is
be offensive to my faith and the faithful."
Smith could not be
reached for additional comment.
"I'm glad that
the diocese issued a retraction, but this sort of endorsement should never have
happened in the first place," said Lynn in an email to The Christian Post
on Tuesday. "The law banning political intervention by non-profits is not
new. It has been around since the 1950s. Members of the clergy should be
familiar with this law by now and should be following it."
Lynn, who is an ordained
minister in the United Church of Christ, says the complaint against St.
Raphael's is the seventh of its kind issued by Americans United so far this
year. His organization is currently working to reduce the number of violations
by sending letters about the "no politicking" law to clergy
nationwide.
"All houses of
worship -- no matter what their political leanings -- should abide by the
law," said Lynn. "The American people have been clear on this matter:
They attend houses of worship for spiritual purposes, not to hear partisan
political rants."
Alliance Defending
Freedom, meanwhile, is defending a pastor's right to speak on politics from the pulpit.
It launched Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008 with the goal to remove the ability
of the IRS to censor what a pastor says. This year's Pulpit Freedom Sunday will
be on Oct. 7.
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