A small postscript to what I posted yesterday about the continuing-to-develop story of Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life (and Rachel's Vineyard and Gospel for Life) and the muddled finances of the groups Pavone heads:
Karen Smith Welch reports in Amarillo Globe News yesterday that the Gospel for Life group has not had tax-exempt status for 16 months, but has continued to solicit donations up to the present with an online donation form on its website describing donations to the group as tax-deductible.
Again, I'd like to note that pieces of information of this sort appear to me to vindicate the decision of Pavone's bishop Patrick Zurek to rein Pavone in and demand financial transparency and accountability on his part. The man is heading multi-million dollar operations and representing the Catholic church in an exceptionally high-profile (and overtly political) way as he does so.
The financial wheelings and dealings of groups like these need to be above-board. They also need to be supervised by more than one overlord, who happens to be the same high-profile personality raking in the money for an organization.
The graphic is from the 2008 Catholics Vote Catholic website of the group Catholic Coalition of New Mexico. Under its Q & A tab, the website has the following statement of Father John Corapi: “
This year, more than ever, Catholics, and the entire human family, face a daunting challenge. We have to elect a President and other high ranking officials, and the choice could be a matter of life or death for the nation. For Catholics, it is a matter of a moral mandate: form your conscience so that you can vote your well-formed conscience. It is not morally permissible to merely vote for whomever you like based on superficial or even personal preferences. The candidates have to be evaluated in the sober and pure light of truth. Your conscience must be formed to the objective norm of that truth, which is Church teaching in faith and morals. Since a physician needs to be concerned with what’s sick, let’s get right to the point. It is not morally possible for any Catholic to support abortion, euthanasia, fetal stem cell research, human cloning, or same-sex marriage. There are no ways around this, no justifications whatever.
The Q & A page also directs readers to "authoritative
letters authored by Archbishops Chaput and Myers and Fr.
Pavone, Director of Priests for Life," all of whom instruct faithful Catholics to vote against any candidate whose "support comes from pro-abortion and other
activist organizations, and his party's platform promotes
immoral policies such as abortion and same sex marriage . . . ."
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