Laymen's Week-End R.L. of Phila. v. Butler

Opinion bv

Keller, J.,

The Constitution, in that section which authorizes the general assembly to pass general laws exempting certain property from taxation (article IX, section 1), makes a distinction between “actual places of religious worship,” and “institutions of purely public charity.” This must be borne in mind in applying the Act of April 9,1921, P. L. 119, to the objects therein exempted from taxation. While in some respects a religious purpose may be a charitable purpose, (McLean v. Wade, 41 Pa. 266, 269), it is not necessarily so, and when considered from the standpoint of exemption…