_____
From: Americans United [mailto:americansunited@xxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 1:07 PM
To: Miriam Vieni
Subject: AU Press Release: Cities Hosting Pope Francis Must Take Pains To
Protect Church-State Separation, Says Americans United
Church-State Watchdog Group Warns Three Cities And Federal Government Not To
Spend Public Resources on Religion
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Cities Hosting Pope Francis Must Take Pains To Protect Church-State
Separation, Says Americans United
Church-State Watchdog Group Warns
Three Cities
And Federal Government Not To Spend
Public Resources on Religion
Officials in Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C. should take care to
respect separation of church and state during the upcoming visit of Pope
Francis, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
In
<https://support.au.org/page.redir?target=https%3a%2f%2fau.org%2ffiles%2fpdf
_documents%2f2015-08-31_PopeVisitLetter.pdf&srcid=9025&srctid=1&erid=3301797
&trid=f6117c5d-3edc-47e5-b21a-ce1752df0153> a letter sent today to officials
in the three cities as well as federal agencies, Americans United noted that
during previous papal visits, government officials have attempted to divert
tax money for religious purposes. That must not happen when the pope visits
in late September, says Americans United.
"Although the pope is considered a head of state, he is in a unique position
because he also leads a major religious group," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn,
executive director of Americans United. "As a result, government officials
must be very careful not to spend taxpayer dollars for any of the pope's
religious activities while he is in the United States."
Americans United asserts in its letter: "[G]overnment bodies must not
provide any aid to a Pope's religious activities that goes beyond the
provision of services - such as police, safety, and security - that are
regularly given for comparable public events of a similar size."
Read
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1a-ce1752df0153> the rest of this press release on au.org >
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Press contacts
communications@xxxxxx
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Rob Boston,
Director of Communications
Simon Brown,
Assistant Director of Communications
Sarah Jones
Communications Associate
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