A Catholic abortion rights group is asking the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and halt any further attempts by the archdiocese to influence the Nov. 2 election.

The Washington-based Catholics for a Free Choice filed a complaint with the IRS on Tuesday, saying the archdiocese violated its status as a public charity under federal tax laws.

The complaint says St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke has "explicitly urged Catholics" to vote against certain candidates and has "clearly crossed the line into political intervention." Officials at the archdiocese declined to comment.

The complaint takes issue with Burke's Oct. 1 pastoral letter, published in the archdiocesan newspaper, "The St. Louis Review," which forbids Catholics to vote for candidates who support abortion rights, euthanasia, reproductive cloning, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research - what Burke calls the five "intrinsic evils."

The complaint says that tax-exempt charities are absolutely prohibited from acting on behalf of or in opposition to a certain candidate. It says that by directing St. Louis Catholics how to vote, Burke is flouting the law.

A tax-exempt charity's endorsement of a candidate for public office is tantamount to using taxpayer money for such purposes, the group says. In effect, a tax-exempt charity is keeping money for its charitable purposes, that if paid in taxes, would have been spent for the common good.

"If anything is sacred in this country, it's the concept of one person, one vote and fair elections," said Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice. "This is the bedrock of American democracy.

"Public money should be used for charitable purposes, not for telling people who to vote for implicitly or explicitly."

Kissling said the IRS tax code specifically bars tax-exempt charities from implicit or explicit political endorsements.

The complaint says Burke's pastoral letter, "On Our Civil Responsibility for the Common Good," presents a step-by-step protocol for Catholic voters, and says they are "morally bound" to pick the proper candidate.

Kissling isn't hopeful the IRS will respond to the complaint, but her group will continue to file them anyway.

"We think the level of electioneering by Catholic conservative bishops and lay people is unprecedented and really needs to be checked," she said.

The IRS declined to comment on the complaint.

Catholics for a Free Choice has filed similar complaints recently against the Archdiocese of Denver and Archbishop Charles Chaput; The Culture of Life Foundation in Washington; and Catholic Answers, in El Cajon, Calif., an organization that defends Catholic teaching.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis is the only diocese in the country that is distributing a voter guide produced by Catholic Answers. The guide lists Burke's five "intrinsic evils" as "nonnegotiable" issues Catholics must consider when voting. Lawyers for some U.S. dioceses have advised their bishops not to order or distribute the guide, saying it's a violation of the tax law.

Kissling said her group has no problem with a voting guide produced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. She said the bishops' "Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility" is a "fair and balanced guide" that urges Catholics to weigh a range of issues.

This article courtesy of the Associated Press.