Maureen Dowd lands on the Catholic Church hierarchy with both feet in her column:

[madrchsod]

6. a church is the people who share common values and beliefs

most do not involve themselves in politics but in saving souls,moral guidance,and community outreach. most churches do not have the money to pay taxes. i know my churches operating funds are around 68 thousand a month which is not a lot of money. if we were taxed we could`t open the doors. there`s a store front church just opened a few blocks from me..tax them? there`s probably 20 families and a preacher who works a full time job.

where would the civil rights movement be without the churches across the south and those in the north who supported the movement? the ministers,priest,and nuns who supported and in some cases gave their lives in central america and stood for the anti-war movements.

on the other hand the catholic church is a foreign sate that has an elected leader who dictates policies or laws contrary to those of our government. there is no reason why they should not be taxed