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Romney: Religious gifts should be private

WOLFEBORO, N.H., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Mitt Romney, in an interview with Parade, suggested he has not released more U.S. tax returns because he does not want to publicize his religious contributions.

Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, was interviewed by the magazine with his wife Ann in late July at his summer home in Wolfeboro, N.H. Romney is a devout Mormon and served as the bishop of his Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints congregation in Belmont, Mass., before becoming involved in politics.

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"Our church doesn't publish how much people have given. This is done entirely privately," Romney said. "One of the downsides of releasing one's financial information is that this is now all public, but we had never intended our contributions to be known. It's a very personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to our God and to our church."

The tax returns Romney did release for 2010 showed that a lot of his money is held overseas. He was asked if he would be willing to keep it in the United States.

"My investments have been managed for almost the last 10 years by a blind trust. A trustee decides where to put our money," Romney answered. "If I am president, my understanding is the same principle applies, that I may not direct any of my investments. I can't tell you what my investments might be because I won't make them. But I am happy to have every investment in the United States."

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The magazine, a Sunday insert in thousands of newspapers across the country, plans to run a similar cover story on President Obama and his wife next weekend.

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