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sacred heart – RI Future http://www.rifuture.org Progressive News, Opinion, and Analysis Sat, 29 Oct 2016 16:03:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.25 Sistare says he didn’t deny Pryeor communion http://www.rifuture.org/sistare-says-he-didnt-deny-pryeor-communion/ http://www.rifuture.org/sistare-says-he-didnt-deny-pryeor-communion/#comments Mon, 12 Aug 2013 05:29:22 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=25576 Continue reading "Sistare says he didn’t deny Pryeor communion"

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Father Brian Sistare, the priest at Sacred Heart Parish in Woonsocket, responded during mass on Sunday to allegations that he told gay married congregants they could not receive communion unless they ended their marriages and that he is using his position with the church to campaign against proponents of same sex marriage.

You can listen to him here:

After the service, I asked Sistare if he wanted to talk more about it. He declined, but said he felt it was inaccurate to suggest that he had denied gay married parishioners communion when he had simply told them they could not get communion until they were no longer married.

 

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Why churches can’t engage in political activity http://www.rifuture.org/why-churches-cant-be-political/ http://www.rifuture.org/why-churches-cant-be-political/#comments Thu, 08 Aug 2013 17:21:15 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=25466 Continue reading "Why churches can’t engage in political activity"

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IRS Tax Code, Section 501©(3):

A tax-exempt religious organization is a legal entity or vehicle created and operated exclusively for religious purposes, no part of the net earnings of which insures to the benefit of any private individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and which does not participate in or interfere in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.

shchurch62012
Sacred Heart Church in Woonsocket

In 1954 Senator (later president) Lyndon B Johnson suggested that in exchange for sweeping tax exceptions, churches would be prohibited from endorsing or opposing political candidates.  The Council for Secular Humanism, in a landmark report, estimated that churches in America avoid paying at a minimum $71 billion in taxes.  This amounts to a huge subsidy for religious groups in America, a subsidy we pay whether we are religious or not.

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a right wing theocratic legal defense organization, objects to the prohibition on clerical electoral advocacy. They maintain that churches should still be immune to taxation, but should not have to sacrifice their First Amendment rights to free speech to do so. Each year the ADF organizes Pulpit Freedom Sunday, a date for clergy across the country to violate this prohibition and openly challenge the IRS on this issue. As part of this action ministers send videos of their open violation of the law to the IRS, hoping to provoke a court case that the ADF can use to have the law stricken down.

The IRS has only sporadically enforced the law, and there are very few cases of the IRS going after a mainline Christian church. In fact, there is only one example of such a church losing its tax exempt status: “The Church at Pierce Creek in Binghamton, N.Y., lost its tax-exempt status in 1995 after the IRS determined it had violated federal tax law by publishing a full-page ad in USA Today in late October of 1992 advising people that voting for presidential candidate Bill Clinton was a sin. The church sued in federal court to regain its tax-exempt status but lost in federal district court. A federal appellate court later upheld the ruling denying the church tax-exempt status.”

For the most part, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) has toed the line in this regard. The structure of the RCC is different from Protestant churches. Think of Protestant churches as a string of little franchises, with independent owners acting as they please within the confines of their conscience and faith. An IRS investigation and fine against one tiny church will not result in cases against other churches because there is no direct relation between them.

The RCC is different. The RCC maintains a top down pyramidal structure and all the churches and related property are financially connected. The priests are, in a sense, employees of the local bishops, who are in turn employees of the Pope, who acts as CEO. Were a case to be opened against a Catholic priest, and it was determined that the priest was following the edicts of his bishop, then other churches and other priests could be fairly investigated, and the entirety of the Catholic Church in the United States could possibly lose its tax free status.

High profile right wing religious advocate Mike Huckabee recently maintained that churches should voluntarily give up their tax free status so that they can move more forcibly into the public arena. Though this would be a bold and honest move on the part of religious institutions, remember that we’re talking $71 billion here. Few institutions are that bold or honest.

As Steve Siebold wrote on the Huffington Post, “Imagine how much food that could buy to feed the hungry, or how it could help those less fortunate. This might be acceptable if the church was actually encouraging strategies to reduce human suffering, irresponsible behavior that harms others, ending violence in our neighborhoods and other critical issues. Churches do not serve the common good; they propagate ancient supernatural mythology that brainwashes people into believing the unbelievable and impedes social and scientific progress.”

One last point: The IRS tax code is federal in nature, but city and state governments have expanded the tax free status of churches in other ways as well. “All 50 US states and the District of Columbia exempt churches from paying property tax. Donations to churches are tax-deductible.”

With all this in mind it is difficult to know what exactly motivates Father Brian Sistare in Woonsocket. Certainly, as his Twitter feed suggests, Sistare is extremely conservative in his views. It is possible that the closer ties being formed by Evangelical and Roman Catholic churches over issues like LGBTQ and reproductive rights have allowed priests like Sistare to feel comfortable violating the prohibition on politicking from the pulpit.

Certainly the evidence of emails from Sistare threatening to influence upcoming elections is a troublesome thing. If his actual sermons make good on this threat, then the IRS should certainly investigate and remedy the situation.

Of course, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence could always start paying federal, state and local taxes, in which case no one could complain at all.

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Priest to legislators: I will campaign against you from church http://www.rifuture.org/priest-to-legislators-i-will-campaign-against-you-from-church/ http://www.rifuture.org/priest-to-legislators-i-will-campaign-against-you-from-church/#comments Thu, 08 Aug 2013 04:16:18 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=25458 Continue reading "Priest to legislators: I will campaign against you from church"

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sistareA Catholic priest is said to have sent an email to legislators who voted for same sex marriage threatening to use his bully pulpit as a church leader to get them unelected.

“I’m praying for each of you, that you turn back to God,” said an email purportedly from Father Brian Sistare, who is now the priest at Sacred Heart in Woonsocket. “I’m also going to let my Parish know exactly how you voted, so come re-election time, you will not be re-elected.”

As non-profit entities, churches are legally forbidden from engaging in political campaign activity.

The email was sent to the 26 state senators who voted for marriage equality and was signed and seemingly sent by Sistare. Sistare, who was a priest at St. Rocco Church in Johnston at the time, did not return a call for comment earlier this week to RI Future and has since declined to comment to other media outlets as well.

Sistare is said to have told married gay parishoners that he would not serve them communion unless they ended their marriages. Divorce is considered a sin to devout Catholics but the church does have an annulment process.

Here’s the full email sent to state senators:

Dear RI Senators who voted for “marriage” between members of the same sex,

       Yesterday was a very sad day for our little state of Rhode Island.  I’m still shocked that each of you took it upon yourself to take the place of God and redefine what He has established.  Marriage has always been understood as the union between one man and one woman.  This is a 5,000 year old fact!  I’m wondering what you will do when a mother comes to you and asks to be married to her son, or a cousin wants to marry her first cousin, or when a man wants to marry 2 or 3 women, or a human being wants to marry his animal?  What will you do, now that you have decided that Marriage is no longer a sacred union between one man and one woman?
        For those of you Senators who are baptized Catholics, I invite you to go to the Sacrament of Confession to receive God’s Mercy and Forgiveness for your grave sin of voting against God yesterday, so you’ll be able to receive Holy Communion again in the Catholic Church.
        For those of you who claim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, I also invite you to repentance in your own faith tradition; and to those who claim no religious affiliation, I pray that you also see the error of your ways.
        Your decision yesterday will have a lot of consequences on those of us who hold God’s definition of Marriage between one man and one woman.  Already my Pastor from my hometown of Westerly is being accused by a confirmed lesbian, of violating the tax exempt status of the Catholic Church for telling his parishioners to contact Senator Algiere about his upcoming vote – unfortunately, Senator Algiere, you betrayed your own Catholic Faith and your constituents in voting for sodomy yesterday.  Also, my little niece Giana was coming out of school the other day when her fellow 4 year old classmate remarked to her that 2 women could marry.  Thankfully, my niece told the little boy the TRUTH that this isn’t the case, that Marriage is only between one man and one woman.
        I’m praying for each of you, that you turn back to God.  I’m also going to let my Parish know exactly how you voted, so come re-election time, you will not be re-elected.
Fr. Sistare
St. Rocco Church
Johnston, RI
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Gay Catholics in Woonsocket denied communion http://www.rifuture.org/gay-catholics-in-woonsocket-being-denied-communion/ http://www.rifuture.org/gay-catholics-in-woonsocket-being-denied-communion/#comments Tue, 06 Aug 2013 12:47:15 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=25410 Continue reading "Gay Catholics in Woonsocket denied communion"

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Pierre Laveillee, left, and Lew Pryeor are legally married gay Catholics who were told they could no longer receive communion.
Pierre Laveillee, left, and Lew Pryeor are legally married gay Catholics who were told they could no longer receive communion.

While many gay Rhode Islanders gained a new right last week, Lew Pryeor and Pierre Leveillee lost one yesterday.

The Catholic couple from Woonsocket was told by their priest, Rev. Brian Sistare of Sacred Heart, that he would  no longer give them communion at Sunday service.

“I have been a Catholic all my life,” Pryeor told me yesterday after he was informed of Sistare’s decision to deny them the sacrament. “I like to go to church and light a candle for my family. Now, I feel like I can’t do that anymore.”

Pryeor and Leveillee have been together for 34 years and were married in 2007. The couple moved to Woonsocket two years ago. He said they were always accepted at the other local Catholic churches they have attended in Warwick and West Warwick over the years.

His new church in Woonsocket, Pryor said, “is pushing people away when they should be reaching out. They may not agree with me, but they shouldn’t throw rocks at me.”

The couple will leave Sacred Heart and look for a more accepting Catholic church in Woonsocket.

Pryeor went to Sacred Heart on Monday to talk to Sistare about his politically conservative sermons. After suggesting that Sistare not alienate parishioners with the priest’s personal politics,  Pryeor said Sistare informed him that he would not give him communion anymore because his marriage to Leveillee is not recognized by the church.

Pryor said the priest told him he would give him communion if he ended his marriage to Laveilee.

Sistare, who could not immediately be reached for comment, is new at Sacred Heart, said Pryeor, who has been taking issue with his new priest’s politically-charged sermons.

Pryeor been posting on Facebook about Sistare’s sermons. From Sunday, July 28:

ok pierre and i went to church today .. new young priest at the Sacred heart church . Instead of saying how we all should follow the ways of the Pope, reaching out to everyone , He talked about the Governor again.. All right already not everyone likes Chafee but instead of showing negativity towards someone due to their beliefs try to reach out to those that are lost are needing help.

And this from Sunday, August 3:

mass was ok today but What political party was my priest refering to as a party that is wrong for thinking the rich should give up some of there money.

Pryeor and Leveillee have been congregants at Sacred Heart since moving to Woonsocket two years ago. Pryeor organized the annual church festival. They live one block from the church and bring their grandchildren to mass. Pryeor said he and Leveillee have been congregants at Catholic churches in both Warwick and West Warwick before moving to Woonsocket and their relationship and their love has always been accepted by other priests.

Other gay couple who attend Sacred Heart have posted on Pryeor’s Facebook posts that they, too, have been told they would not be offered communion.

Catholics believe that the Sacrament of Communion – eating unleavened bread blessed by a priest – is akin to eating the body of Jesus, who they believe is the son of god born of a virgin birth.  Devout Catholics believe communion should not be given to sinners until they repent.

The church has a legal right to deny anyone any part of their ritual it sees fit. But preaching politics from the pulpit may be another matter. As a tax-exempt organization, church’s have a legal obligation not to use their non-profit status to push its leaders’ personal politics on its parishioners.

Sistare is also a part of the campus ministry at Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket. He’s also on Twitter, where he follows many conservative politicians and FOX News personalities. In January,  tweeted this to Gov. Chaffee:

@LincolnChafee Do RI a favor & go take a job w/ Abomination adm. in DC. Will have to answer to God w/ your support of abortion and sodomy!

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