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June 13, 2007

Group: Tobin's attack on Giuliani may violate tax law

A Washington-based religious advocacy group accuses Bishop of Providence Thomas J. Tobin of violating tax law by criticizing GOP presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani's abortion views in the diocesan newspaper.

The group says the Internal Revenue Service "should investigate" the diocese.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State issued a news release today saying "federal tax law forbids non-profits to use organizational resources to support or oppose candidates for public office." The organization says it sent a letter to the IRS noting that.

Rev. Barry W. Lynn, the group's executive director, said in the letter that Tobin, "appears to have violated federal tax law by attacking Giuliani," according to the news release.

Tobin made his comments in a piece in the Rhode Island Catholic, the diocese's newspaper, questioning Giuliani's personal belief that abortion is wrong while feeling that government should not intervene.

“If the bishop wants to join the political fray, he should do so as an individual without dragging along his tax-exempt diocese," Lynn said in the news release. "A church is not a political action committee, and it should not act like one.”

On its Web site, Americans United for Separation of Church and State describes itself as having members in every state and as an "nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving the constitutional principle of church-state separation."

A spokesman for Tobin told the Associated Press the complaint lacks merit.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with Associated Press reports

The site contains a feature critical of what it calls the "the religious right after Falwell," which shows images of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, Rev. Pat Robertson and James Jobson, who leads Focus on the Family, a group that opposes same-sex marriage.

The organization posts "alerts" on various issues such as "undermining evolution" and, therefore, in its words, undermining science standards in the public schools. It accepts financial contributions on part of its Web site. And it suggests contacting members of Congress on issues.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:49 PM | Permalink

June 13, 2007

Group: Tobin's attack on Giuliani may violate tax law

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