Oh NO! Italy Joins the 'War On Relgion'?

A bit of shocking news on page 10 of the Oregonian this morning: Church to Lose Tax Break. Yes, the Italian Government is breaking from its business as usual, that is passing laws that benefit the Catholic Church with little fanfare. It hasn't been in the habit of publicly taking bennies away.

"The government of Prime Minister Mario Monti took that step Wednesday, telling the European Commission that it intends to change Italian law to ensure the Church pays property tax on the parts of its buildings used for commercial ends."

So now the convents that offer B&B services, and the churches that rent space to shops will have to pay their full share of property tax. No small change: estimates range from $650 million to $2.6 billion. And could set off a wave of such changes in tax exemptions across cash strapped Europe. There was no link to it from the O, so here is a Reuters link instead.

Hmmmmmm.