Thursday, May 29, 2003
Interior Allows Grants to Churches
In a policy shift on the line between church and state, Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton said today that federal preservation grants may be awarded to historic properties used for religious purposes.
The decision reverses a 1995 opinion by the Justice Department that barred active houses of worship from receiving historic preservation grants. It is one of a series of steps the Bush administration is taking on its own to carry out the president's promise to help religious groups compete for federal funds, despite the stalling of legislation to promote his "faith-based initiative."
Norton said the change "ends a double standard" and opens the way for churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious institutions to apply for funds under the Save America's Treasures program.
Save America's Treasures was established in 1998 as a public-private partnership between the Interior Department's National Park Service, which provides the funding, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which helps evaluate applications. Each year, it provides about $10 million for an average of 60 preservation projects, the most famous of which was the Smithsonian's repair of the Star-Spangled Banner.
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said it is inappropriate for a church with an active congregation to "pass the collection plate" to taxpayers. "In the long run this will become the excuse for repair and construction grants to a wide variety of churches of far less historical significance."
H. James Towey, director of the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, said that religious applicants must meet the same criteria as secular groups, including showing that their facility is nationally significant, urgently needs repair, has educational value and confers a public benefit.
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