To: All priests, deacons, parish staff and school staff
FR: Bishop McManus
RE: Reminder of Prohibited Political Activity
The following advisory from the USCCB has been shared with the National Diocesan Attorneys Association as a reminder to all diocesan and parish employees. Please pay particular attention to the highlighted section addressing use of social media.
It is hard to believe we are a little more than 2 months away from midterm elections. As this season approaches, this notice is to remind everyone that section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations
are strictly prohibited from engaging in any political campaign intervention (i.e., any activity showing support or opposition for a candidate for public office). This prohibition is broad and many organizations in your dioceses are unaware of what they can and cannot do with regard to political activity.
The two areas which pose the most problems are
voter education guides and
social media. While a tax-exempt organization may publish a voter education guide, i.e., a guide that sets forth the various candidates for office and their positions on topics of interest, the guide
must be neutral. Each candidate's position must be presented in the same way (for example, you can't bold the candidate's position that aligns with the teachings of the Catholic Church). Voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.
Social media accounts for tax-exempt organizations and leaders of tax-exempt organizations should not support or oppose a candidate for public office. Something as simple as a social media account for a Catholic school "liking" a Facebook post supporting a candidate for office may be considered impermissible political campaign intervention. Individuals can report political activity by a non-profit to the IRS by filing Form 13909, and the IRS is required to look into the complaint. As you all know, many individuals are closely monitoring the activity of non-profits and would not hesitate to report activities he or she believe to be impermissible campaign intervention.
The USCCB has published "Political Activity and Lobbying Guidelines for Catholic Organizations," which can be accessed on our website by
clicking here. This guide is up to date and contains a lot [of] useful information.
Clergy should pay particular attention to this on their personal social media sites. Also, please be sure that parish and school staff and volunteers are properly managing organizational social media accounts, including Facebook, websites, Instagram, etc. Individuals who identify themselves as working for our parishes and schools on their personal social media should also be careful to not imply any position on behalf of their parish or school.