PROVIDENCE — The Washington, D.C.-based “religious liberty watchdog” group, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has accused Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of violating federal tax law by criticizing former New York mayor and presidential hopeful Rudolph Guiliani’s views on abortion.
In a May 31 “Without a Doubt” column published in the premier edition of the Rhode Island Catholic, “My R.S.V.P. to Rudy Giuliani” drew worldwide attention – and a large measure of support for the bishop. This newspaper alone received hundreds of e-mails praising its stance.
But in a June 13 complaint to the Internal Revenue Service, Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, said that Bishop Tobin “appears to have violated federal tax laws by attacking Guiliani and stating that he ‘would never support a candidate who supports legalized abortion.’”
In the complaint, Lynn said the IRS, in a revenue ruling issued June 18, “reasserts that leaders of non-profit organizations may not use organization publications to support or oppose leaders for public office. Lynn adds that the ruling says, “For their organizations to remain tax exempt under section 501 (c) (3), leaders cannot make partisan comments in official organization publications or at official functions of the organization.”
The Rhode Island Catholic, however, is published by he Visitor Printing Company, a business corporation. In a telephone interview June 18, Lynn said he was unswayed by that information.
“The paper is the official Diocesan newspaper,”? Lynn said. “In the column the bishop speaks for the Diocese officially, and his partisan comments would naturally be read as opposition to voting for Mr. Guiliani.”
Bishop Tobin argued in the column that Guiliani’s position is “pathetic, confusing and hypocritical,” and likened the Republican candidate to “ the sad figure of Pontius Pilate in the Gospels, who personally found no guilt in Jesus, but for fear of the crowd, washed his hands of the whole affair and handed Jesus over to be crucified.”
Guiliani has stated that while he is morally opposed to abortion personally, he supports reproductive rights.
The bishop stated “Rudy’s preposterous position is compounded by the fact that he professes to become a Catholic. As Catholics, were are called, indeed required, to be pro-life, to cherish and protect human life as a precious gift from God from the moment of conception until the time of natural death. As a leader, as a public official, Rudy Guiliani has a special obligation in that regard.”
Michael Guilfoyle, Diocesan director of communications, defended the bishop’s choice to publicly state his opinion.
“Bishop Tobin has every right to challenge public officials on important moral issues,” Guilfoyle said. “Bishop Tobin did not tell anyone how to vote in the column, in which he responded to a fundraising invitation he received from the Guiliani campaign. His comments were printed in a newspaper which is not exempt from federal taxation. The corporation is a business corporation.”
