Bishops charge in free-speech issues.

Washington -- Mirroring, though going further than, the case of Canadian Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary, who was threatened by Canadian Income Tax bureaucrats for his comments on Paul Martin's "moral incoherence," two U.S. archbishops were brought before the Internal Revenue Service under the threat of having their tax-exempt charitable status revoked. Archbishops Charles Chaput of Denver and Raymond Burke of St. Louis had, previous to the November federal elections, written pastoral letters advocating that Catholics should cast their votes based on the candidates' stance on basic moral issues such as abortion. No individual candidates were named in either writing; both bishops merely spelled out Catholic teaching for Catholic voters.

The case is seen as the latest example of anti-Christian bias to silence the voices of religious institutions in the public square. The pro-abortion front group "Catholics for a Free Choice" is said to be behind the IRS moves. (Files from National Catholic Register, 5 Dec. 2004.)