Nov 13
Catholic Church, secret political donor?
By Denise Ross
One of the ususal suspects as the potential secret $750,000 donor to the 2006 Vote Yes for Life campaign has been the Catholic Church, a notion I dismissed almost out of hand. For some reason, I thought the church wouldn’t funnel its money into political campaigns, even on an abortion measure.
Not being Catholic, I shouldn’t have assumed such things. What do I know about the culture of the church, beyond the sadly salacious headlines about pedophile priests and the lawsuits they generate? (The massive payouts that have brought some parts of the church to its financial knees accounted for part of my belief that it wouldn’t spend money on campaigns.)
As it turns out, not only did the church contribute to the campaign that turned back a law legalizing gay marriage in Maine, but it was former Sioux Falls Bishop Robert Carlson taking part. (Read it all here.)
The Archdiocese of St. Louis says Archbishop Robert Carlson used $10,000 in discretionary funds to support the successful effort to prevent legalization of gay marriage in Maine. … Dioceses in Philadelphia and Phoenix gave $50,000 each.
With those kinds of donations coming in from around the country, it wouldn’t take long to hit the $750k mark on an issue the seems to incite more passions amongst Catholic leaders than even gay marriage.
So I’m rethinking the Catholic Church as a possible secret donor. The church now makes as much sense as anyone else in the parlor chatter speculation.
5 Comments so far
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Two comments:
1) Were those secret donations not disclosed to the public?
2) Do you think they would really use a lawyer who is not Catholic and has pursued life strategies not supported by the Church?
Denise, this speculation borders on slanderous.
I don’t know whether the Catholic church would set aside differences with an individual lawyer in pursuit of a larger goal, and I don’t expect any of us will ever know for sure. My point is simply that the church DOES, it is now clear, donate to political campaigns. Also, what is slanderous about saying anyone who has given to a similar campaign in another state might also have given to a SD campaign? Where’s the accusation of wrong-doing? -Denise
In #1, I meant to say, “Were those other donations not disclosed to the public”
-Yes, the other donations were disclosed as required by law. The same would be true of any future donations in South Dakota. Whomever the secret donor is, they exploited a loophole in SD law that the Legislature has since closed. SD has long had loosey-goosey campaign disclosure laws. It’s improving - slowly. -Denise
THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS AND PRIESTS SHOULD BE MADE TO REGISTER AS LOBBYISTS FOR A FOREIGN POTENTATE. THEY TAKE A VOW OF ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE TO THE POPE AND PLEDGE THAT THEY WILL DO ALL IN THEIR POWER TO FURTHER THE TEACHINGS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
IT IS ABSURD TO ALLOW THEM TO THINK THEY CAN BLACKMAIL AMERICAN CIVIL LEADERS INTO MAKING THIS NATION A THEOCRACY. WHAT IS ALSO SCARRY IS THAT THEY AGREE ON MOST SOCIAL ISSUES WITH THE PROTESTANT FUNDAMENTALISTS - I CALL THEM THE AMERICAN TALIBAN
Troy, what “life strategies not supported by the Church” has Roger Hunt pursued? If you are referring to Hunt’s support of the death penalty the church has a long established record of overlooking this part of the being pro-life. I speak as a regular church goer who can’t remember the last time I missed a Sunday Mass. I hear lots of sermons against abortion and stem cell research but can’t remember ever hearing a sermon about state sponsored killing of prisoners.
Hunt would be the perfect vehicle for the donation precisely for the reason you point out. If Jeremiah Murphy had set up a fake corporation to make this donation the entire world would have immediately assumed the money came from the Church. Not so much with Hunt doing it
I am all for people donating to the political issues of their choosing and their own convictions. However, I do not think that political causes should get tax-exempt status. If true, this clearly means that the Catholic Church should have ot start paying taxes.