Carlson tapped archdiocesan fund to fight gay marriage in Maine
Frank Schubert, campaign director for Stand for Marriage Maine, claims victory for Yes on 1, Tuesday evening, Nov. 3, 2009, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Campaign finance records for a ballot measure that last week defeated a law legalizing gay marriage in Maine show that the St. Louis Archdiocese contributed $10,000 toward that effort.
Only two other dioceses in the country - Phoenix and Philadelphia - contributed more ($50,000). The dioceses of Newark, NJ and Youngstown, Ohio also contributed $10,000.
St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson said in a statement to the Post-Dispatch that the money came from a “special needs” account which is tapped at his discretion, and which is funded by “private gifts.”
By 53 to 47 percent, Maine voters rejected a law Maine’s Roman Catholic governor signed in May that would have made Maine the sixth state to allow same sex partners to wed. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont allow gay marriage now, and New Hampshire will in January.
The Nov. 3 ballot measure asked voters: “Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?”
The catechism of the Roman Catholic Church calls homosexual acts “acts of grave depravity” and “intrinsically disordered” because they “close the sexual act to the gift of life.”
The Catholic church led the charge to reject the new law. In the quarter leading up to the vote, 45 dioceses around the country contributed a total of $180, 550 to the effort, according to the campaign finance records. Six bishops (from Louisville, Ky.; San Antonio, Texas; New Ulm, Minn.; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; Bridgeport, Conn.; and Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind.) personally contributed a total of $2,700.
Two other Missouri dioceses contributed to the cause. The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau gave $500, and the Diocese of Jefferson City gave $2,000.
According to the Portland Press Herald, the two sides of the ballot issue in Maine “spent more than $7 million, with same-sex marriage supporters outspending opponents.”
The St. Louis Archdiocese released the following statement to the Post-Dispatch:
In June of this year, Archbishop Richard Malone of Portland, Maine sent a letter to all U.S. bishops asking for financial support for issues the church considers to be moral issues. Archbishop Robert J. Carlson approved a donation for $10,000 which was charged to the special needs fund. This fund has traditionally been the archbishop’s for discretionary spending, not for formal operations, and is funded by private gifts. These funds were already available when Archbishop Carlson arrived in St. Louis. Archbishops of St. Louis have made donations in the past to help other dioceses around the world for various causes ranging from disaster relief, to pro-life issues.
Carlson was installed on June 10. The contribution from the St. Louis Archdiocese was received by the Portland diocese on July 16.
Less than a month earlier, on June 22, the archdiocese eliminated four positions at Catholic Charities, the largest private provider of social services in Missouri. Catholic Charities president, Monsignor Mark Ullrich, said at the time that the job cuts were “due to our need to economically downsize.”
The archdiocese has been stung by the struggling economy. In January, it eliminated 25 part-time and full-time positions - representing 6 percent of the jobs within its administrative and educational offices, not including Catholic Charities. Last November, the archdiocese said its revenue had dropped 37 percent because of decreases in investment income and contributions.
UPDATE (for all those commenting about IRS regulations):
It is illegal for tax exempt religious organizations to participate in political campaigns for candidates, but they can “engage in advocating for or against issues and, to a limited extent, ballot initiatives or other legislative activities,” according to Internal Revenue Service regulations.
Tim Townsend has been the religion reporter at the Post-Dispatch since June 2004. He previously covered personal finance and consumer news for The Wall Street Journal. He holds master's degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Yale Divinity School. In 2005 he won the Templeton Religion Reporter of the Year Award, given by the Religion Newswriters Association. 
I don’t understand how Catholics can continue contributed money to an organization that uses it to prevent equal rights, defend pedophiles and stop scientific advancement. Good god, just give your money to a legitimate charity.
This is absolutely sinful…how many meals, how many clothes, how much medicine for the poor and needy could that $10,000 bought? Instead, it was used to dehumanize. The Archbishop should be ashamed.
shouldn’t the church be focused on more important things like helping the homless
This is one of the new tactics of “outing” supporters and where the money comes from. They try to “shame” people and scare future donors into not supporting issues.
This just shows how desperate people are trying to force their morally sick views onto people.
I still don’t understand why it is other people’s business or the government’s business how people express their love and devotion to one another.
Thank goodness Archbishop Carlson was not afraid to the special needs funds on this. This money is not for operational purposes, it is from private donations, and it is to be used at the Archbishop’s discretion.
He chose well as far as I am concerned. He donated the money towards a cause that follows the beliefs of the Catholic Church. He is not shamed in my book!
No…it’s not in the least “morally sick” to divert funds from true philanthropic and charitable work to instead fund a campaign to dehumanize and marginalize good and decent folks.
to be fair & balanced, will the P-D editors also give Townsend an assignment to report on local StL churches that provided funds to groups in favor of maine’s gay marriage ballot measure? now that would actually be interesting.
Thanks Archbishop at least someone is willing to stand up for traditional family values and not be pressured by hippie leftwing media.
No matter what your opinion is regarding same-sex marriage, it is ridiculous that the Catholic Church is allowed to spend funds on political campaigns of any kind, whether they are “private gifts” or not. Religious organizations need to lose their tax-exempt status if they are going to continue to operate this way. That money needs to be spent helping the hungry and homeless.