The Catholic Diocese of Greensburg will receive a former North Huntingdon police car, but not before a township commissioner raised questions about donating a vehicle to a religious organization.

Township commissioners will transfer the title of a 2016 police cruiser with more than 100,000 miles to the Diocese of Greensburg police department in the near future, township manager Harry Faulk said. The vehicle has been described as ready to be taken out of service because of a multitude of engine problems.

The commissioners approved the donation by a 5-2 vote, with Commissioners Richard Gray and Jason Atwood opposing the move.

Gray questioned the propriety of a government entity giving a police vehicle to the diocese’s police department.

“We’re donating to one religion. I don’t think it is appropriate for the government to give township assets to a religion, in exclusivity, basically,” Gray said. The state has about 160 recognized religions and another religious organization could seek a similar donation, Gray noted.

Rather than donating the vehicle, Gray said he believed the township should sell it on Municibid, an online auction service for governments and schools, and deposit the money into North Huntingdon’s general fund to benefit residents of all religions.

Greensburg Diocese police Chief Ryan L. Maher had written to the North Huntingdon police department in 2024 asking to be considered for a used vehicle, diocese spokesman Cliff Gorski said.

The car would be used for law enforcement purposes by a state-certified police department, said Commissioner Ronald Zona, a retired state police trooper.

“We’re donating to a police department and not a religion,” Zona said.

The police car, which is at the end of its useful life, would be used at the Queen of Angels School in North Huntingdon, Acting Police Chief Jay McCurdy said.

“We are supporting children in the community. We have residents who have children who attend there. I see the value of a marked police vehicle being a deterrent” to criminals looking at a soft target such as a school, McCurdy said. “This is definitely a deterrent.”

Solicitor Dayne Dice said he did not believe the donation violated the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The First Amendment says, in part, that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof … .”

A situation could arise where a claim may be made against the township if another religion with a police department is denied a donation of an old vehicle, Dice said.

Maher intends to use the vehicle to help keep citizens and visitors safe at parishes and events and “for the protection of some of the most vulnerable, school students at Queen of Angels School,” Gorski said.