MASSACHUSETTS
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
kshaw@telegram.com
The churches are being asked by some legislators to render unto Caesar, and they are not happy about it.
Representatives of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, which represents the four Massachusetts bishops, and the Massachusetts Council of Churches, which represents mainline Protestant churches and the Eastern Orthodox churches, plan to attend a hearing at 1 p.m. today at the Statehouse to oppose a bill that would require them to file public financial reports similar to what is required of the state’s nonprofit charities.
The bill would also require that churches make public their real estate holdings.
The legislation is sponsored by Sen. Marian D. Walsh, D-Boston; the 32 co-sponsors include Sens. Robert A. Antonioni, D-Leominster, and Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, who are Catholics.
The bill has the support of Secretary of State William F. Galvin, also a Catholic, who is expected to testify today. Gov. Mitt Romney, a former leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said on Monday he would consider the bill if it passes.
Timothy L. Lyons, spokesman for Ms. Walsh, said yesterday that the bill is an offshoot of the clergy abuse scandal that engulfed the Roman Catholic Church, but the legislation would require the same reporting of all religions in the state.
Ms. Walsh, a graduate of Newton College of the Sacred Heart, filed the bill after she was contacted by parishioners from St. Susanna Parish, Dedham. Their parish was one of many in the Boston Archdiocese being closed while money was needed to pay settlements to victims of clergy sexual abuse, Mr. Lyons said Ms. Walsh told him. They were seeking greater financial openness, he said.
Among those expected to testify for the bill are members of Voice of the Faithful, a group of Catholics that formed in the Boston area as the sex abuse scandal began to unfold in 2002. One of the group’s goals is financial openness within the church.
Laura Everett, program associate for the Massachusetts Council of Churches, said in a statement that she will testify for the council. She will discuss what she sees as impropriety in using legislation “to deal with a recent internal dispute in one denomination, in this case the Roman Catholic Church.”
Ms. Everett said some people believe the bill would affect only one religious tradition, but the legislation will “affect every synagogue, mosque, church and other religious institutions in the state.”
Edward F. Saunders, who heads the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, said he will attend the hearing but is not expected to speak. None of the Massachusetts bishops are expected to be there. The “lead testifiers” will be from the Massachusetts Council of Churches, he said.
The organizations believe requiring public reporting of church finances paves the way for further intrusion into religious matters by government.
“It breaks down separation of church and state,” Mr. Saunders said yesterday. He said passage of the legislation — Senate Bill 1074 — would further allow the state’s attorney general to intervene in church issues and go to court to get church documents.
He believes the bill to be unconstitutional because it tinkers with First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion, free of government intrusion. The churches, now exempt from reporting requirements required of the state’s charities, are different from these other charitable organizations, Mr. Saunders said. He believes the legislation was put in place to monitor fund raising by organizations that may or may not be charities.
Mr. Saunders added that churches have their own committees and subcommittees that monitor finances and the information would be available internally to those who were seeking it, he said. “The transparency does exist,” he said.
According to information from Ms. Walsh’s office, the bill is constitutional and does not interfere with separation of church and state but would bring about financial openness. Having to file the required forms would not burden small religious communities and would not create a hardship. A hierarchal church, such as the Catholic church, would need to file only one form for the diocese, and each parish will not be required to file.
The change in the law is not aimed at setting the religious groups up to later pay taxes, she said.