Next to evangelical Protestants, Catholics are the biggest concern on Americans United for Separation of Church and State’s agenda. This is not surprising, given that much of Americans United’s historical purposes was to combat what was feared to be growing Catholic influence in public life during the post-World War II period and the 1950s. Here are recent some examples of Americans United’s anti- Catholic skirmishes:
In March 1999, Americans United urged members of Congress to block a proposal that would require the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home to sell a parcel of land to the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., for use by the Catholic University of America. Executives for the Soldiers’ Home hoped to get a better price from private developers. But several Republican members of Congress, along with two District of Columbia council members, urged that the archdiocese be given the right to buy the land at a fair market price. This outraged Barry Lynn.
“This is a sweetheart deal,” Lynn complained in a news release. He also warned it was a violation of the First Amendment ban on established religion because the government was playing “favorites among religions.” He insisted that respect for the Constitution demanded that Congress drop the “scheme.” Eventually, Congress reached a compromise that allowed the Soldiers’ Home to accept competitive bids while giving the archdiocese the right to make the first offer.
Elections interest Americans United far more than land sales. Catholic efforts to support pro-life candidates is of special concern. In March 1999, Americans United denounced plans by Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua to distribute voter guides about municipal elections to churches in the archdiocese of Philadelphia. In a stern letter, Lynn warned the cardinal to cease and desist.
“Cardinal Bevilacqua, this entire scheme smacks of Christian Coalition-style tactics, and I am disappointed that the archdiocese would consider such an ill-conceived and legally dubious project,” Lynn wrote. “It clearly jeopardizes the tax exemption of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and all of its parishes.” He threatened to file a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service unless the cardinal followed his advice. “Cardinal Bevilacqua can choose to gamble with the Archdiocese’s tax exemption if he chooses, but I wouldn’t recommend it,” Lynn declared in a March 1999 press release.
Threats about tax exemptions are a common Americans United tactic. In a July 2000 press release, Lynn warned of the “serious legal questions” raised by the Catholic antiabortion group Priests for Life and its issue advertisements geared to Election 2000. According to Americans United, the ads were designed to “pressure candidates to accept the anti-abortion position of the Roman Catholic bishops.” Priests for Life’s executive director, Rev. Frank Pavone, had, according to Americans United, anointed George W. Bush as pro-life and condemned Al Gore as “an apostle for abortion.”
“This is a tainted project,” Lynn concluded about the group. “We will be watching closely and will not hesitate to report violations of the law to the IRS.” Besides the legal questions, Lynn said he was troubled by the “divisive religious element” that Priests for Life was injecting into the campaign. “When churches try to force dogma on all Americans through the political process, it seriously undermines the separation of church and state,” Lynn said.
A November 2000 article in Americans United’s magazine, Church and State, similarly warned of Catholic efforts to make abortion an issue in the 2000 election. The Priests for Life effort is “but one example of church intervention in the current election,” the article said. It cited the anti-Gore statements of former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Raymond Flynn as another. The article also expressed concern about Archbishop Elden Curtiss of Omaha’s criticism of Democrats who support legalized abortion.
“The hierarchy’s efforts may prove futile,” the article asserted. “Polls show that the majority of Catholics, like adherents of most other faiths, are pro-choice on abortion.”
A small news item in the same issue of Church and State disapprovingly reported the attendance of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy at the annual Red Mass for lawyers at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington. Although the Mass is intended to “invoke God’s blessings and guidance,” the article noted that “Roman Catholic prelates often use the religious ceremony to lobby court officials on issues such as abortion, parochial school aid, and church-state relations.”
That Catholics should attempt to persuade anybody in government of the validity of their Church’s views is of course a very bad thing, in the eyes of Americans United. It prefers that religious people, especially traditional Catholics and evangelicals, keep their opinions to themselves.