i know now that archbishop burke is in st louis. bishop sheridan is the guy in colorado who sent out a letter to parishoners telling them "any Catholics who vote for candidates who stand for abortion, illicit stem cell research or euthanasia suffer the same fateful consequences [as the candidates who support these issues]"
here is a response from a tax professional asked if that type of action jeopardized the diocese' exemption:
Section 501(c)(3) defines exempt charitable organizations as ones that, among other things, do not participate in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. The bishop's letter, written in his official capacity to his parishioners, makes an unambiguous reference to the national elections this November, and, as Don Tobin said initially, cannot be read in any other way than as a letter urging parishoners not to vote for Kerry. I think it is actually quite a bit worse than the Branch Ministries advertisement, since the bishop's letter doesn't merely urge the recipients not to vote for Kerry--it tells them that doing so may "jeopardize their salvation." What bigger guns can be brought to bear on those who believe, as at least some Catholics do, that the hierarchy of the church is authorized to make theological determinations of this sort? Obviously many who hear this will disregard it, but do we doubt that there are some readers who will think that eternal damnation isn't something about which they want to take any chances?
There are First Amendment issues lurking here, surely; but the Supreme Court in TWR and the DC Circuit in Branch Ministries made it clear that Congress is permitted to define the exemption boundaries in ways that effectively require charitable organizations to choose between exempt status and the fullest exercise of free speech. If the church wants to participate in campaigns, it can do so, but only if it gives up its exempt status. I think that's a good rule for a lot of reasons, prominently including its effect in discouraging the sort of heavy-handed political activity encountered in this instance, which seems to me extremely dangerous. this is a link to the site on which that was posted. there are a number of other opinions, but this one seemed to answer the quesiton most directly and clearly. link
There are First Amendment issues lurking here, surely; but the Supreme Court in TWR and the DC Circuit in Branch Ministries made it clear that Congress is permitted to define the exemption boundaries in ways that effectively require charitable organizations to choose between exempt status and the fullest exercise of free speech. If the church wants to participate in campaigns, it can do so, but only if it gives up its exempt status. I think that's a good rule for a lot of reasons, prominently including its effect in discouraging the sort of heavy-handed political activity encountered in this instance, which seems to me extremely dangerous.
this is a link to the site on which that was posted. there are a number of other opinions, but this one seemed to answer the quesiton most directly and clearly. link
apparently thats not necessarily the case.
The attached link, to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has information regarding the Catholic Church's exemption. There is also a memo explaining the exemption from the USCCB's Office of the General Counsel. It appears that groups listed by the USCCB as being affiliated with the Church receive an exemption. It also appears that each group is thereby granted its own exemption. So it may be that a subgroup can have its exemption contested without impacting the entire Church.