Coalition of Catholic organizations urge reform of Catholic Campaign for Human Development

October 30, 4:28 PMDC Catholic Living ExaminerDenise Hunnell, M.D.

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On November 22, both the Diocese of Arlington and the Archdiocese of Washington will participate in the second collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Every Catholic who contributes to this second collection has a right to expect the CCHD to apply these funds to charitable causes that are in accordance with Catholic principles. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case.

The most high profile lapse was the millions of dollars given to ACORN by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Funding for ACORN was stopped two years ago, long before the recent ACORN scandal. However, in recent months CCHD has also been found to fund the Chinese Progressive Association and the Young Workers United group. Both of these are San Francisco based organizations that advocate for abortion and same-sex marriage.

There is no evidence that either of the D.C. metro area local diocese have directly used CCHD funds for objectionable causes. However, most of the funds collected are turned over to the national office of CCHD from which these objectionable grants have originated. Once the national office was made aware of the nature of these organizations, it did move to prevent future funds from being funneled into these programs. However, this recurrent pattern of an objectionable program being funded and then defunded raises concern about the vetting process the CCHD uses for its grant recipients.

Because of this, a coalition of Catholic organizations has called for a massive reform of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. This expanding coalition includes the Bellarmine Veritas Ministry, Human Life International, and the American Life League. Until this reform occurs, these groups recommend withholding donations to the CCHD and giving directly to charitable organizations known to be faithful to Catholic principles. Their new website, reformcchdnow.com, offers a growing list of alternative groups in need of charitable support. They have given four principles in determining which groups to support:

 

1) These groups should not be primarily political, or simply concerned with "social change". We support groups that work directly with the poor, that work to affect social change in concert with the Church, and which support the Catholic Church's views on social justice, life issues, as well as marriage and family issues. Groups that focus on these issues may not be considered the norm in "social justice" circles, but unless we realize the centrality of the family and respect for the dignity of every human person from the moment of conception to natural death, all other agreements about justice are superficial and all such efforts are counterproductive.

2) We will not support any group that in any way works against the Church, that cannot account openly for all of their activities and their effectiveness, or that is primarily political in nature.

3) These groups need not necessarily be Catholic, but they meet our other critiera in their direct service to the poor, non-political focus, and respect for life, family and marriage.

4) These groups also should not be adequately defined as "Liberal" or "Conservative". They should be Christian. We reject any attempts to reduce the Church to political camps.

Among their recommendations are A Simple House in Washington D.C. and the Paul Stefan Home for unwed mothers in Virginia.

In response to concerns, Bishop Morin, chairman of the CCHD, sent a letter to all bishops assuring them of CCHD's continued vigilance in screening funding projects for CCHD. He said in part:

I write to respond to a recent report from Bellarmine Veritas Ministries that identified several CCHD-funded groups that had taken actions in conflict with CCHD’s guidelines after they were funded, particularly lack of conformity with Catholic teaching.

The projects in the report included The Rebecca Project for Human Rights, in Washington, D.C.; the Chinese Progressive Association; and Young Workers United, both based in San Francisco. The leadership of the Rebecca Project, which had already been de-funded by CCHD as a result of national and local staff oversight, was found to be in support of abortion rights. The Chinese Progressive Association and Young Workers United, both immigrant workers’ rights groups, had, without the knowledge of the local Archdiocese or CCHD, produced voter guides that took positions on referenda opposed to Catholic teaching on same-sex marriage and, in one case, parental notification and abortion. As soon as these facts were confirmed, and after consultation with the local Archdiocese, the groups were also defunded. These prompt and decisive responses were noted by Bellarmine in a subsequent story on its Web site. Two other groups named in the original story were investigated and, in consultation with the local dioceses, the charges proved to be inaccurate or a misunderstanding had occurred. These firm actions are consistent with CCHD’s policies and practices, which deny funding to groups that take positions contrary to Catholic teaching. If you have any concerns or questions about these actions, please feel free to contact me, Ralph McCloud, or John Carr at the USCCB.

For more info:

LifesiteNews reporting on CCHD

Catholic Campaign for Human Development