Suit fights U.S. aid to mission sites [View All]

WASHINGTON - Two days after President Bush signed into law a $10 million aid package for California's 21 historic missions, a group calling itself Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit Thursday challenging the constitutionality of federal money going to repair active Catholic churches.

"Houses of worship must be maintained by their members, not the federal government," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, the organization's director. "All but two of these missions house active congregations and hold regular worship services. They are not museums."

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and seeks to enjoin the Interior Department from distributing any money for the missions.

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