FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Leslie Palma
917-697-7039
TITUSVILLE, FL -- Priests for Life National Director Frank Pavone called an IRS agreement to allow pastors to endorse political candidates from the pulpit “a victory in a fight we have been waging for decades.”
In a court filing this week in a federal case brought by the National Religious Broadcasters, IRS Commissioner Billy Long said tax-exempt nonprofits — including churches — should not be banned from participating in political campaigns.
“We are particularly happy with this development because it’s something we have been dealing with for decades,” said Pavone, whose 2015 book, Abolishing Abortion, includes a deep dive into the issue.
“Priests for Life is one of the primary organizations urging churches to be politically active in the pro-life arena and to ensure the election of pro-life lawmakers. A big part of our teaching has been about the Johnson Amendment and how it should not be used as an excuse for silence.
“Bishops and officials of the Catholic Church in the U.S. have gone woefully overboard in self-censorship, using the Johnson Amendment as a feeble excuse,” Pavone continued. “In the early 2000s, Priests for Life was subjected to an IRS audit of everything we were doing and saying, and at its conclusion, our non-profit status was intact.”
Pavone said he remains grateful to President Trump, who issued an executive order in 2017 instructing federal agencies not to persecute churches for political activity.
“As part of our history, we are very happy about this development and I hope the court will accept this consent judgement as requested,” Pavone said. “I continue to look forward to the day the Johnson Amendment is declared unconstitutional and removed from tax code all together.”
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