BishopAccountability.org
	Church Employees Discover Pensions Unsafe Beliefnet May 2, 2006 http://www.beliefnet.com/story/190/story_19049_1.html WASHINGTON, May 2, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Employees who work for organizations with religious affiliations are finding out that faith in the security of their pensions has been misplaced. What some are finding out the hard way is that federal pension laws allow religious organizations can opt out of the requirements for worldly organizations, the New York Times reports. When employers take that option, employee pensions are not covered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. The religious exemption includes a wide range of organizations, including seminaries, colleges, hospitals and nursing homes with church ties. Congress created the exemption out of reluctance to regulate churches and the belief that religious groups could be counted on to do the right thing. But the Times said many organizations have done things that would be illegal for secular organizations, like raiding pension funds to pay operating expenses in a crisis or, in some Catholic dioceses, to pay damages in sexual abuse litigation.
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