Dear Priests for Life Friend and Supporter,         

Imagine you are the pastor of a parish and you receive an urgent letter from the attorney who serves as your diocese's lawyer.  In the letter, you read that you are NOT to allow anyone to distribute any pro-life voter guides to your parishioners ... otherwise you risk violating tax laws.

How would you react?  What would you do? 

In all likelihood you'd follow the diocesan lawyer's advice and make sure that no pro-life voting guides see the light of day in your parish.

 And that's exactly how pastors in one diocese acted during the critical 2004 election after they received just such a letter from their diocesan attorney. Unfortunately, this letter was like many others sent out in other dioceses.

 But here's the problem.

 Not only was the letter totally incorrect,

             ... but the lawyer who wrote it is an abortion advocate who has given thousands of dollars to help pro-abortion political candidates win their elections! 

I was reminded of this outrage when I read that several pastors in a Southern city told pro-life activists that they did not have the pastors' permission to hold pro-life events on public sidewalks near their churches. 

 I'm going to give these pastors the benefit of the doubt and assume that they acted as they did because of a misconception that if they allowed these pro-lifers to speak out against abortion near church property that they risk violating IRS guidelines and jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.

 The fact of the matter is no one needs the permission of a pastor to speak out against the crime of abortion no matter how close they are to a church!  Public sidewalks are just that ... PUBLIC!  As such, they are a forum from which any citizen can preach the Gospel of Life.

 I shared these two examples with you because the 2008 election campaign is already upon us ... and Priests for Life must re-educate the clergy regarding their legal rights in order to let pastors and bishops know all that can do and say about abortion and political candidates during the campaign.

In order to do so, however, I must have your help today.

The two examples I just gave you are perfect illustrations of why this project is so important.  You don't need me to remind you of the results of the 2006 elections.  A great many pro-life lawmakers went down to defeat.  So many, in fact, that pro-abortion proponents now hold power in Congress and in many statehouses around the country.

Please understand, this was not because voters became less pro-life.  For those who weigh the candidate's views on abortion, voters chose pro-life candidates by a margin of 2 to 1!  The 2006 election was decided on other issues.

But this also means that the more people we reach, the more momentum our cause will have, because the abortion issue is still a winning issue at the polls.

That's why it's absolutely vital to our fight to end abortion that we not suffer losses in the fast-approaching 2008 election like we did in 2006!

 And one of the best ways to avoid a repeat of 2006 is to take the muzzle off those God has specially called to speak out in defense of innocent human life! 

But as I just showed you, far too many ordained ministers continue to operate under the misconception that if they dare to preach against abortion they are going to violate current tax laws.

            Complicating matters are the actions of many pro-abortion groups.  They use scare-tactics to silence members of the clergy.  They build "straw men" and paint dire pictures of churches being shut down by the IRS.  They're all fabrications ... but more often than not they achieve their goal. 

Here's an example of what I mean.  It's from a particularly aggressive pro-abortion organization.  What follows comes from an actual letter (I added the bold facing and underlines in order to highlight those things that jump out at bishops and pastors who receive this letter):

Dear Religious Leader,

            Another election year is upon us, and questions about the appropriate role of houses of worship in the political process have arisen.

            The First Amendment ... protects the right of pastors and church leaders to speak out on religious, moral and political issues.  However, houses of worship ... are barred from endorsing or opposing candidates for any public office and may not intervene directly or indirectly in partisan campaigns. ...

            Federal tax law, which governs the activities of houses of worship, prohibits churches from engaging in partisan politics on behalf of or in opposition to candidates.  The IRS has already revoked the tax-exempt status of one church that violated this provision by announcing its opposition to a presidential candidate.  The federal courts have upheld the revocation.

            I recommend extreme caution in this area.  ...

            As a priest, I can tell you that that kind of letter grabs your attention.  Pastors read the words "directly or indirectly" and wonder what that means for them.  Does it mean they'll lose their tax-exempt status if they talk about abortion ... or the election ... or voting for pro-life candidates?

Then they read about the church that lost its tax-exempt status ... and finally the chilling sentence:  "I recommend extreme caution in this area."  So rather than take a chance and possibly violate IRS guidelines, far too many pastors remove themselves to the sidelines and remain silent on the inseparable link between morality and politics.

This is where YOU and Priests for Life come in to play!

            The statements and conclusions of the legal experts who conducted Priests for Life's first Legal Symposium in 2002 are as true today as they were then.  And those findings make it clear that bishops and pastors and priests and members of the clergy can be extremely bold on the issue of abortion during election campaigns!

            That being the case, the first thing I want to do is make sure that all those God has charged to preach the Gospel of Life - from all religious denominations - know exactly what the law allows them to do.

            Quite frankly, many of our bishops and clergymen are getting bad legal advice on this important issue.  They can do far more than their lawyers tell them they can.

            But that's only half the battle.  There is another problem we face.

It's not just lack of knowledge within the ranks of America's clergy ... it's also a lack of courage! 

So together with giving our clergy the proper legal information they need, we're going to help them overcome their fears by networking them with other clergy who are courageous, and by providing spiritual retreats to strengthen them.

To accomplish this double goal, Priests for Life is going to hold a series of meetings in 2008.

Participants will include legal experts, bishops and other religious leaders.  These meetings will help the clergy become better educated on what the law says and more confident in taking action.   

What's more, I'm working to get several of these expert attorneys to put together a definitive, well-researched, fact-filled letter - complete with footnotes - that I can send to all the pastors of all the churches in the country.  That letter would act as the antidote to the letter pro-abortion organizations send out to pastors ... like the one I quoted to you a moment ago. 

I will be doing this in conjunction with our Gospel of Life Ministries, which is an umbrella effort that I lead to reach many denominations with the pro-life message.

The bottom line is this:

Members of the clergy - including Catholic bishops - have been short-changed when it comes to knowing all they can do during election campaigns.  And as a result, so has our fight to end abortion.

With your help today, Priests for Life is going to change that ... and empower pastors to speak boldly from the pulpit on both the evil of abortion and the moral duty of Christians to get involved in the political process!

            The cost to do all this is going to be enormous.  And to be honest, more than Priests for Life can handle at the present moment.

That's why I'm writing to you with such urgency.

America's clergy need to be assured that they do not jeopardize their tax-exempt status when they preach the Gospel of Life from the pulpit!  And that's precisely what our Legal Symposium will give them: ASSURANCE ... and CONFIDENCE too!

My goal right now is threefold: 

1.      Update, publish and send the documents from our first Legal Symposium to the pastors of EVERY Church of EVERY denomination in the country!

2.      Set up a series of meetings for early 2008 ... and give bishops and priests the opportunity to meet one-on-one with some of the top pro-life legal minds in the country, and to gain courage from the example of their brother priests.

3.      Recruit a team of attorneys to compose a letter that I will send to every pastor in the country assuring them of their legal and Constitutional right to preach against the evil of abortion and remind parishioners of their duty to get involved in the political process - especially to VOTE pro-life - without fear of reprisal from the IRS or any other government entity.

This one project alone could be the very one that unleashes the POWER of the Holy Spirit and enables him to use his ordained ministers to energize the people of life as never before.

But as I said, the main hurdle I have to overcome is the funding needed to accomplish those three goals.  It will cost Priests for Life literally tens of thousands of dollars to accomplish all this.

 

And I'm counting on YOU to help Priests for Life raise those much-needed funds!

 

Make no mistake.  The 2008 election is already underway.  And many of the leading Presidential candidates - from both of the major parties - remain uncommitted to the unborn!

It is critical that we do everything we can to energize God's ordained ministers and embolden them to act as modern-day prophets and get their flocks directly involved in the fight to end abortion!

One of the best ways to do that is to refute the bad legal advice these preachers have been getting and tell them that it's time to be more afraid of offending God by our silence than of offending the IRS by our speech!

So please give Priests for Life the funds we need to carry out this important project ... and all of our other life-saving work. 

Click here to make your secure donation online. 

Remember, after what happened in 2006, the upcoming 2008 elections are pivotal ... not only for the future of our nation, but most especially for the fate of the unborn.

It is critically important that America's clergy instruct their flocks that true discipleship includes getting involved in the political process and working to elect those candidates who are committed to protecting all innocent human life.

With your help today, that is precisely what Priests for Life will continue to do. 

So please click here to send the largest financial gift you can today.  These next fourteen months are critical for the future of our country and God's unborn babies.

Thank you for your urgently needed help today.  In appreciation for all you are doing for God's innocent unborn, I remember you at every Mass I offer; as do all the other priests.  God bless you.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Frank Pavone

National Director, Priests for Life and Gospel of Life Ministries

PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314

(For those unable to donate online, checks payable to "Priests for Life" may be sent to the address above. All donations are tax-deductible.)

 

PS Here's another reason why I am putting this project on the fast track.  As you know, every year Nellie Gray gathers tens of thousands of pro-life activists for her "March for Life" in Washington, D.C. and I lead a prayer service in the US Senate.  On that occasion I meet with a lot of priests, pastors and seminarians of all denominations, and would like to have this material ready to give them.  In order to make that happen, I have to move now.  So please do whatever you can to help make this happen.