Santorum's speech is just one of several outlined in an amended disclosure statement. Messianic Jews paid Santorum

In 2010, Rick Santorum was paid to speak to a controversial religious group unpopular with some Jewish leaders because it seeks to convince Jews to accept Jesus.

The Messianic Jewish Alliance of America paid Santorum $6,000 to speak at its 2010 annual conference, according to a filing released Wednesday showing a total of nearly $95,000 in speaking fees that Santorum previously failed to disclose.


The alliance supports Messianic Judaism, which embraces Jewish heritage and customs but holds the fundamental Christian belief that Jesus is the son of God. Its beliefs are similar to those of the group Jews for Jesus, which has drawn particular ire from Jewish leaders for its proselytizing efforts.

But Joel Chernoff, CEO of the Messianic Jewish Alliance, said “Israel could not have a better friend than” Santorum, an observant Catholic whose speech to the group dealt with the threat of Islamic extremism. Chernoff said he personally supports Santorum, “and I think most Messianic Jews would probably say that,” though he conceded Santorum’s passing affiliation with his group “could be a factor” with traditional Jewish voters.

Some Jewish leaders have denounced Messianic Judaism as “ religious fraud” intended to convert Jews to Christianity.

Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, which was created to fight anti-Semitism, condemned the group in 2008. He had harsh words Thursday for Santorum’s appearance.

“Political figures are free to raise money from whomever they want, so long as they disclose it, but considering the role Rick Santorum sees for religion in public life, it is very distressing that he would appear on the platform of a group that teaches that Jews should convert to Christianity,” Foxman said. “His decision to appear before a group of Messianic Jews was insensitive and offensive.”

David Shor, spokesman for a group of Orthodox Jewish Santorum supporters called Jews Pick Rick, said Messianic Jews in general “are trying to spiritually corrupt our community,” but he added that Santorum’s speech “does not trouble me. It has nothing to do with the campaign.”

The Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, which is based in central Pennsylvania, initially tried to land Sarah Palin and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, both of whom are devout Christians who are strongly supportive of Israel, as speakers at its 2010 conference, according to Chernoff.

“Rick was our next call because we liked him and we liked where he was coming from spiritually and values-wise” Chernoff said. He added: “In the pantheon of fees, his wasn’t that big. Most of the [political figures] that we want to come are extremely expensive, and it’s just out of our budget.”

The 2010 speech is just one of several outlined in an amended personal financial disclosure statement filed by the former Pennsylvania senator in January and released Wednesday afternoon by the Federal Election Commission.

It’s not unusual for politicians to make money on the speaking circuit, and Santorum’s fees are a fraction of the six-figure sums that big political names like Palin can collect.

For Santorum, the fees supplemented earnings of at least $1.3 million between January 2010 to August 2011, the period covered by his disclosure, from a range of sources, including $239,000 for his work as a Fox News contributor and more than $330,000 in consulting fees from Consol Energy Inc.

Santorum campaign spokespeople did not respond to questions about why the speaking fees weren’t disclosed on his initial disclosure statement, filed in August, or about a handful of other minor changes in the amended disclosure.

Cleta Mitchell, Santorum’s outside lawyer, said “all the amendments were technical in nature” and were requested by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, which oversees personal financial disclosures for federal officials and presidential candidates.

In all, Santorum reported honoraria from nine groups, with fees ranging from $3,161 paid by the Student Statesmanship Institute to $20,000 paid by Nestle Waters, the bottled water distributor.

With the exception of Nestle Waters and Salem Communications, the conservative radio syndicator that paid Santorum $13,500 for a speech last year (and for which Santorum had hosted a talk show), Santorum’s paid speeches were mostly delivered to conservative nonprofit groups.

Wisconsin Right to Life and the Family Institute of Connecticut each paid him more than $9,000 for speeches while Young America’s Foundation paid him more than $22,000 for a pair of speeches.