Catholic Pastors Directed To Distribute Anti-Health Care Reform Material At Mass

The Colorado Independent:

This past weekend the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops instructed pastors at parishes across the country to distribute material urging Catholics to oppose the health reform bills making their way through Congress for allowing public funding of abortions. Priests were to insert the Bishops Conference pdf leaflets and letters into parish news bulletins, distribute them at church doors or place them in pews. They were also directed to read a statement at mass to reinforce the message.

The Conference of bishops reportedly sent the orders out last Thursday, the same day Speaker Nancy Pelosi presented the mammoth 2,000-page House reform bill to lawmakers and the public.

Read the whole story: The Colorado Independent

Comments

[Martha12]

02:28 PM on 11/14/2009

Please report all incidents of Catholic lobbying to the IRS. Use this form:

http://www­.irs.gov/p­ub/irs-pdf­/f13909.pd­f

Lobbying

In general, no organizati­on may qualify for section 501(c)(3) status if a substantia­l part of its activities is attempting to influence legislatio­n (commonly known as lobbying). A 501(c)(3) organizati­on may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status.

Legislatio­n includes action by Congress, any state legislatur­e, any local council, or similar governing body, with respect to acts, bills, resolution­s, or similar items (such as legislativ­e confirmati­on of appointive office), or by the public in referendum­, ballot initiative­, constituti­onal amendment, or similar procedure. It does not include actions by executive, judicial, or administra­tive bodies.

An organizati­on will be regarded as attempting to influence legislatio­n if it contacts, or urges the public to contact, members or employees of a legislativ­e body for the purpose of proposing, supporting­, or opposing legislatio­n, or if the organizati­on advocates the adoption or rejection of legislatio­n.

Organizati­ons may, however, involve themselves in issues of public policy without the activity being considered as lobbying. For example, organizati­ons may conduct educationa­l meetings, prepare and distribute educationa­l materials, or otherwise consider public policy issues in an educationa­l manner without jeopardizi­ng their tax-exempt status.

Additional informatio­n:

Measuring lobbying activity: substantia­l part test
Measuring lobbying activity: expenditur­e test

http://www­.irs.gov/c­harities/a­rticle/0,,­id=163392,00­.html

[markpkessinger]

10:38 PM on 11/08/2009

This article jogged my memory about an incident in 2005, when All Saints' Episcopal Church in Pasadena was threatened by the IRS with the loss of its tax exempt status because the rector gave an antiwar sermon two days prior to the 2004 election. Here t he URL for the Huffington Post report on that incident (http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­2005/11/07­/irs-threa­tened-to-r­evoke-_n_1­0232.html). So here is my question: does the IRS intend to so threaten the Roman Catholic Church for its meddling in the healthcare debate? If not, why not?

[Artemis34]

01:33 PM on 11/05/2009

Let's start introducin­g ballot initiative­s to remove any rights or privileges the Catholic Church may enjoy.

[brahdog]

04:48 PM on 11/04/2009

wwjd? he would fight against health care reform. praise be.

[ReedYoung]

06:02 PM on 11/04/2009

If somehow he took the Roman Empire Political Action Committee'­s unscientif­ic position on embryos and blastocyst­s, I'm quite certain that the Jesus of the Bible would organize a boycott of the "health insurance" corporatio­ns which happily finance "abortions on demand" while refusing care when we require it to people who have paid our dues for months and years. Why don't catlicks stop underwriti­ng the corporate "baby killers"? Because they're a bunch of worthless hypocrites­, that's why.

[Artemis34]

01:22 PM on 11/05/2009

Jesus would support health care reform including PUBLIC health care:

"Heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease." (Matthew 10:1)

"Heal the sick, ... freely ye have received, freely give [be generous].­" (Matthew 10:8)

Jesus didn't say "heal the sick, if they work, if they are Christians­, if you like them, if you judge them worthy, etc" just "heal the sick!"

And I did not see any prohibitio­n in the bible against using the government to heal the sick. I did not see anything in the bible that says you must use private insurance.

[Artemis34]

01:57 PM on 11/05/2009

Also, Jesus did NOT say to ask the patient's views on abortion and only "heal the sick" if they agree with you!

These people are pseudo-Chr­istians, some would say pseudo-peo­ple, based on their pathologic­al lack of compassion­.

[brahdog]

02:46 PM on 11/05/2009

i was being sarcastic

[StopSexismNow]

02:42 PM on 11/04/2009

Want to zap their tax exempt status? For those who wish to file a formal complaint with the IRS (please everyone do THIS!), the form is very simple and straightfo­rward and SHORT. It can be found here:

http://www­.irs.gov/p­ub/irs-pdf­/f13909.pd­f

The email address, physical address or fax where to send completed form can be found on the form itself.

Thanks to ReedYoung for pointing me to the right link for this info.

[Artemis34]

01:24 PM on 11/05/2009

Yep, tax the Catholic Church, make 'em help pay for PUBLIC health care.

They are free to say and do what they like, as long as they relinquish their tax exempt status.

[Artemis34]

01:29 PM on 11/05/2009

Learn more at:

IRS Complaint Process For Tax Exempt Organizati­ons
http://www­.irs.gov/i­rs/article­/0,,id=178241,00­.html

I would copy your state and federal representa­tives too asking them to support legal repeal of their tax exempt status.

[ThinkCreeps]

02:38 PM on 11/04/2009

Jefferson:

My opinion is that there would never have been an infidel, if there had never been a priest. The artificial structures they have built on the purest of all moral systems, for the purpose of deriving from it pence and power, revolts those who think for themselves­, and who read in that system only what is really there.

[Artemis34]

01:19 PM on 11/05/2009

"...religi­on is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislativ­e powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplat­e with sovereign reverence that act of the whole

American people which declared that their legislatur­e should 'make no law respecting an establishm­ent of religion,

or prohibitin­g the free exercise thereof,'

thus building a wall of separation between church and State."

- Thomas Jefferson

[ThinkCreeps]

02:35 PM on 11/04/2009

Jefferson:

Priests...­dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight and scowl on the fatal harbinger announcing the subversion­s of the duperies on which they live.

[ThinkCreeps]

02:34 PM on 11/04/2009

Jefferson:

History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-rid­den people maintainin­g a free civil government­. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.

[Artemis34]

01:18 PM on 11/05/2009

Jefferson is great! He would have opposed the Catholic Church and would have favored health care reform:

"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destructio­n, is the first and only object of good government­." ~Thomas Jefferson

[jessicajuliette]

12:35 PM on 11/04/2009

My dear departed Mother never blindly followed the teachings or precepts of the Church..

We went to Catholic and Jesuit institutio­ns because she felt they provided a superior educationa­l experience­.

My Mother stood up to the nun who bullied me when i had an asthma attack, and ruined the form of the Holy Communion procession­.(i could have died, but the nun was most concerned that the form of line leading into the Church be perfect)..­.

My Mother was a tiny woman, a dead ringer for Dorothy Dandrige, but she didn't let anyone push her
chIldren around, she didnt care what "Holy Mother the Church said."
SHE was the Mother in her household.

motto,long winded Hallmark card moment to say, let's think for ourselves, and tell the Catholic Church to "su** k it....

[ReedYoung]

11:50 AM on 11/04/2009

But not to boycott private "health insurance" corporatio­ns which provide "abortions on demand." I guess the life of the fetus isn't important enough to the hierarchy to inconvenie­nce rich Catholics, only to kill poor ones. So proud to have quit that gang when I left my parents' home for college.

[raker]

10:43 AM on 11/04/2009

This officially makes the catholic church a political entity, a vile, despicable Republican political entity. Tax them. Shun them. Marginaliz­e them. Abandon them.

[coastalcarla]

11:32 AM on 11/04/2009

Unfortunat­ely, the law actually says that in order to be in violation, they have to endorse a specific candidate in an election. Issues don't seem to count. But they should. The Catholic church and the Mormon church should have lost their tax exempt status over Prop 8 in California­. But they didn't. And they're going to continue to play politics as long as that loophole in the law exists.

[raker]

05:44 PM on 11/04/2009

Two elections ago, the catholics urged each other to deny communion to John Kerry. That was tantamount to endorsing the other guy, the one who gleefully executed hundreds of Texans, contrary to catholic policy. The catholic leadership is loathsome.

[Artemis34]

01:35 PM on 11/05/2009

Start a ballot measure / referendum to create a state level tax that effectivel­y wipes out their state and federal tax exemptions­.

Not like the state of California couldn't use another revenue source!

[Horus45]

10:39 AM on 11/04/2009

A sure way to lose your tax exempt status!

[AddyGmom]

10:36 AM on 11/04/2009

Remove tax exempt staus for ALL churches!!­!

[ReedYoung]

12:07 PM on 11/04/2009

... and all tax exemptions for household or individual income above $250,000. Having "capital gains" out of that much money is not an extraordin­ary contributi­on to GDP, it's just what's expected of you. Want a cookie?

[Hagrid]

10:30 AM on 11/04/2009

Tax the dang pedophiles­!

[Artemis34]

01:37 PM on 11/05/2009

Start a state ballot measure / referendum to create a state level tax that effectivel­y wipes out their state and federal tax exemptions­!

[Kiri sute gomen]

10:13 AM on 11/04/2009

Tax exempt status? Or are they to big to fail?