CFFC complaint, IRS probe force catholic answers' hand.

THE CONSERVATIVE U.S. apologetics group Catholic Answers has announced that in April it was forced to create a new branch, Catholic Answers Action, so that it could continue to publish a voter guide that was the subject of a Catholics for a Free Choice complaint and resulting Internal Revenue Service investigation. According to the 2004 CFFC complaint, the guide constituted electioneering of the sort that is banned for tax-exempt charities, such as Catholic Answers, that are incorporated under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. Catholic Answers president Karl Keating said the "hassle" and "expense" of the federal probe left him no choice but to incorporate the new group under a separate part of the tax code, section 501(c)(4).

In September 2004, CFFC filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against Catholic Answers, claiming that the organization blatantly violated the U.S. tax code for tax-exempt charitable organizations.

The complaint stemmed from an August 31, 2004, newspaper advertisement containing the text of its Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics that ran in regional editions of USA Today. In the ad, Catholic Answers called on readers to "eliminate from consideration candidates who are wrong on any of the five 'non-negotiable' issues" and called for readers to give a tax-deductible donation to help distribute the voter guide. Catholic Answers derives the "five 'non-negotiable' issues" from a selective interpretation of Catholic doctrine and instructs Catholic voters "how to vote."

Although the IRS does not report back to organizations that protest illegal activity upon the resolution of their complaints, Catholic Answers chose to publicize the filing of the complaint and its subsequent formation of Catholic Answers Action. From the Catholic Answers Action Web site:

   We were forced to start it
   [Catholic Answers Action]
   because of a complaint
   filed against Catholic
   Answers by Frances
   Kissling, president of the
   misnamed Catholics for a
   Free Choice, a pro-abortion
   lobby.

   In 2004 she filed a complaint
   with the IRS when
   she saw how influential
   our Voter's Guide for Serious
   Catholics had become.
   She claimed the guide violated
   IRS regulations that
   prohibit charitable organizations
   from engaging in
   political activity, and she
   asked the IRS to revoke
   Catholic Answers' tax
   exemption.

   For more than a year her
   complaint has been
   winding its way through
   the IRS, which has been
   sending us loads of
   interrogatories to answer.
   We were forced to hire a
   top-flight pro-life law firm
   to represent Catholic
   Answers and to protect
   our interests.

For 2006, the organization has posted a revised version of the voter guide, as well as a new version for Protestants titled Voter's Guide for Serious Christians. According to the press release, the Protestant guide discusses "the same five non-negotiables but with a modified argument (dropping papal citations, for example, and adding more biblical citations)."

The impact of the move to create Catholic Answers Action remains unclear, since 501(c)(4) groups may not as their primary activity engage in electoral work.

No doubt in the run-up to the mid-term elections in 2006 CFFC will continue to be active on this front. In fact, CFFC has already filed two similar complaints against Priests for Life for tax violations. In an electioneering communication to Priests for Life supporters, Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of the conservative Catholic antichoice organization, stated, "We will repeat and intensify this year all we did in the previous election cycles. The pro-abortion groups, the liberals in the Church, the over-cautious attorneys, and the people who don't want to see the Church 'influencing elections' can yell and scream all they want. In fact, I invite them to. It won't make a shred of difference. We will move forward with more boldness than ever before."