UNITED STATES
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jay Bookman
If you want to see how easily a so-called “religious freedom amendment” can be abused and distorted, take a look at what’s going on in Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church faces myriad lawsuits stemming from its longstanding failure to protect children from repeated, ongoing molestations by Catholic priests. To shield its assets from the estimated 575 plaintiffs, the archdiocese declared bankruptcy in 2011, claiming it had no money to pay damages. But before doing so, it shifted $55 million in church funds into a newly created trust fund, ostensibly to pay for the maintenance of Catholic cemeteries in the archdiocese.
In a letter to the Vatican that sought permission for the move, the Milwaukee archbishop noted that “[b]y transferring these assets to the Trust, I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.”
Not surprisingly, the victims of molestation protested the move to shield church assets. But as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel explains, “The church maintained that forcing it to turn over even $1 in cemetery funds … would substantially burden its free exercise of religion under the First Amendment and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”
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