GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Madison’s Freedom from Religion Foundation says the Green Bay Catholic Diocese should lose its tax-exempt status.

The group that advocates the separation of church and state complained to the IRS, after Bishop David Ricken urged Catholics to vote this week against candidates who support gay marriage or abortion.

He expressed his concerns in a letter to about 345,000 Catholics in 16 northeast Wisconsin counties.

The IRS has not commented. The Green Bay Diocese said Ricken wrote the letter, “out of his love and concern for the people.”