IRS officials said in a new court filing that the tax agency will allow churches and other religious institutions to endorse political candidates without losing their nonprofit tax-exempt status.

The reconsidered interpretation of the Johnson Amendment, instituted some seventy years ago, reverses the view that the statute bans nonprofits from endorsing candidates. Critics of the policy say the statute has a chilling effect on churches addressing controversial social issues.

“Communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services through its usual channels of communication on matters of faith do not run afoul of the Johnson Amendment as properly interpreted,” the IRS said in the filing on Monday.

President Donald Trump has long called for the reversal of the rule, and the move was welcomed by Christians and conservatives who desire churches to speak frankly on matters of public life, especially with respect to biblical sexual ethics.

The court filing added that a church does not participate in political campaigns when speaking in good faith to the congregation “through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith.”

The IRS filing occurred alongside the National Religious Broadcasters, as well as Sand Springs Church in Athens, Texas, and First Baptist Church in Waksom, Texas, settling a lawsuit by means of a consent judgment.