COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs has threatened to withhold donations from a nonprofit group if it does not state that it supports church teachings.

The anti-war Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission has accepted donations ranging from $3,500 to $6,000 from the diocese since the group was founded 26 years ago, director Sister Dorothy Schlaeger said. The commission's total 2003 annual budget was $89,000.

In an April 12 letter, Bishop Michael Sheridan, head of the diocese, asked group leaders to change their mission statement to explicitly support church teachings - including those that oppose abortion and homosexual behavior - or lose funding.

"I am asking that the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission explicitly acknowledge its commitment to defend life at every moment from conception to natural death … as well as its position on upholding the objective morals and values of the Catholic Church, in its mission statement and on its Web site," Sheridan wrote.

Schlaeger, who is Catholic, said the commission is by its nature against the taking of all life and has been supportive of Catholic social teachings.

"We're doing what he asks, but we don't feel that we can put that in our mission statement because of the fact we're an interfaith organization," Schlaeger said.

The group doesn't focus on homosexual issues, Schlaeger said. But in an April 6 letter to Sheridan, she wrote that the commission "seeks to be sensitive to the suffering of all persons, especially those who are oppressed, unlovable, unpopular and unwelcomed by society …"

Schlaeger said Sheridan's letter made her feel "alienated."

"It would be different if we didn't support Catholic social teaching, but we do," Schlaeger said.

Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazette.com

AP-WS-05-28-04 0938EDT