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	Italy's Bishops Decry Possible Tax Probe European Commission Asking around Zenit August 31, 2007 http://zenit.org/article-20383?l=english Rome — The Church is treated just like any other noncommercial organization, said the Italian bishops in the face of a possible European Commission tax probe into alleged property tax advantages. Archbishop Giuseppe Bertori, secretary-general of the Italian bishops' conference, told the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire that the tax benefits enjoyed by the Catholic Church "apply only to activities of a religious and social nature, which are derived from ordinary legislation and is equal to that enjoyed by other noncommercial entities, of the third sector in particular." He added: "Whoever protests the state's treatment of nonprofit subjects working for social promotion in areas of aid, health care, culture, education, recreation and sports is showing a substantial distrust toward the many social entities of varying origins, particularly active in counteracting suffering and poverty. "It would be contradictory for the state to put pressure on those entities, whether of the Church or not, who pursue ends of common interest." Jonathan Todd, spokesman for the European commissioner for competition, Neelie Kroes, said Brussels had received complaints regarding the tax concessions, and that the office was merely seeking information at this stage. The Holy See, for its part, intervened on this question stating in a note that the tax advantages concern the "ecclesiastical entities of the Church in Italy and on this point the Italian bishops' conference has already responded in an exhaustive way."
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