Catholic employee allowed to make anonymous donation

An employee of a Catholic organization will be allowed to make an anonymous political donation to a cause the church opposes because being named could result in job loss.

The employee had made a $600 contribution to Minnesotans United for All Families, a group working to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. The Catholic Church has made passage of the amendment a top political priority.

Minnesota Campaign Finance Board executive director Gary Goldsmith says the board granted anonymity to the donor because knowledge of the contribution could lead to termination:

"The requestor provided the board with an example of another person who he thought was in a similar position — that being a teacher in Moorhead who had lost her job simply because she acknowledged in private to her administrator that she opposed the marriage amendment in Minnesota," Goldsmith said. "That was in part, the evidence that the board believed was convincing."

This is the first request for anonymity the board has received since 1982.