Response to the CCHD
As reported by LifeSiteNews.com, the CCHD is defunding at least two of the grantees detailed in our recent national campaign. We are pleased with this first step and regard it as a sign of good faith by the CCHD. However, we remain concerned with how these organizations were cleared to receive funding in the first place. When Catholics entrust their donations to the CCHD they should feel assured that not a single penny will be used to fund groups which promote abortion or any other practice which runs contrary to both the moral and natural law. As it stands, we have no such assurance. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have made their way to such groups and if the current standards remain in place, the risk remains for the future.
Until the CCHD implements a more robust set of guidelines and filters, we must unfortunately continue to advise Catholics to withhold their donations from the CCHD. We are hopeful that the CCHD will indeed take this next step and we look forward to the day when we can report this good news to our readers.
Before the election last fall I ran across an excellent piece by Stephanie Block about CCHD’s involvement with a much larger coalition called Faith and Public Life (FPL) Here is a portion of her article which was actually taken from a conference.
If you go on the FPL website and look on their map you can see all the organizations in your state that belong to it…quite interesting and surprising…Catholic social justice groups are in bed with groups that are diametrically opposed to Catholic moral teaching…
This also should be exposed.
…In the Catholic Church the situation isn’t much better, millions of dollars have been raised over the years to support Alinskyian organizing principles and networks. This money comes from the annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The campaign was begun in 1970 by progressive Catholic Bishops in the United States. Who sold it as a way to end the vicious cycle of poverty. Publicity material for the CCHD, (the word Catholic was added later on), always stresses the small economic development component. However, only a third of its grants, if that much, go into economic development. The rest has gone into organizing, and most of that into Alinskyian organizing.
To carry out its objectives Faith in Public Life has developed powerful tools: a media and writer’s bureau, frequent press releases, a internet blog, and teleconferences. These work together to promote progressive causes and to hammer the message that anti-abortion and anti-homosexual rights positions are not reflective of mainstream religious sentiment, whether that’s true or not. It’s a subtle but effective message. When challenged, its spokespersons will argue that the common good requires a citizen to address many issues. Therefore they, who supposedly are not two issue voters, like the religious right, claim to be the true representatives of the religious voice in the United States.
The point is, that Faith in Public Life is very consciously, very deliberately, very craftily, trying to assure that the mainstream media will not equate pro-life with Catholic moral teaching or traditional Christian ethics. But, at the very least, say over and over again to the voter, who well may be a Catholic or Christian, “there are many voices on the issues of abortion and homosexuality and if you vote pro-abortion it’s okay.” It’s not okay.
There are serious flaws with the talking points and sound bites that FPL is repeating over and over through its numerous media outlets. The first is that pro-lifers and those who hold traditional morals values only care about two issues, abortion and homosexuality. I don’t know any pro-lifer who would argue that it doesn’t matter if a woman can afford diapers, if only she gives birth to her baby. Similarly, I don’t know a single progressive who is indifferent to the issues of abortion and homosexuality. Progressives care very deeply about them. In fact, there are hundreds of organizations in FPL engaged in advocacy for the single issue of abortion rights or homosexual rights. The rhetoric being thrown around by the FPL coalition members is meant to confuse and twist the truth. By repeating the lie that all the religious right cares about are the two issues of abortion and homosexuality, progressives hope to change public perception. They want the pro-life positions and morally traditional positions to become associated with the idea of narrow thinking. It must become uncomfortable to be called a pro-lifer, or a conservative, or religious right. The person who fears being labeled a bigot, for example, and has been condemned to associate any opposition to homosexual demands, as bigoted, has been silenced. Even more significantly, if the majority of voters can be made to associate any opposition to homosexual demands as hateful and bigoted, they will be more likely to vote for politicians with pro homosexual policies.
Inherent to this message is that the immoral is okay. That abortion and homosexual rights advocacy is a legitimate ethical position. The proof it offers is that some people of faith support these positions. FPL argues that it seeks to find common ground on these issues. However this is a duplicitous argument. Do FPLanti-racist organizations seek common ground with the Ku KluxClan? Of course not, some positions are morally untenable, wicked, non-negotiable. Similarly, abortion and homosexual acts are intrinsically immoral. Trying to find common ground with those who would murder babies or legalized same-sex unions is similarly an immoral enterprise.
Regardless of its other concerns, Faith in Public Life is an abortion and homosexual rights propaganda vehicle. Regardless of its other issues FPL efforts are directed to generating support for abortion and homosexual rights among religious people.
In summary, Faith in Public life is operating in every state in the union. It’s operating in Oregon. Numerous Catholic groups are part of the Faith in Public Life coalition in your state. Faith in Public Life is attempting to neutralize, to marginalize, to obstruct, and to eventually destroy pro-life and traditional moral values.
The Catholic Church, one of the most consistent voices for pro-life and moral values is a target for this progressive effort. It’s a target because radicals believe they must clothe their critical goals with moral garments. And it’s a target because the Catholic Church, by Catholic monies raised in dioceses, is funding many of its members operating under Alinskyian organizational principles and promoting Faith in Public Life’s progressive political agenda.
Alinskyian organizing, which has a significant presence in the Faith in Public Life coalition has a long standing relationship with Call to Action. A movement which seeks to alter Church teaching.
It’s urgent that we get the message out. The short-term goal of Faith and Public Life is to assure that the 2008 presidential election puts progressive politicians into office, with all that that means. The long-term goal of Faith in Public Life is to foster abortion and homosexual rights. Particularly disturbing is that many of Faith in Public Life organizations target the Catholic Church for anti-Catholic purposes, and get Catholics to pay for it.
Please help by linking to this article and/or e-mailing it to all Catholics, Christians and other faith traditions who share traditional moral values in common.
To Contact Stephanie Block:
Los Pequeños de Cristo
PO Box 16117
Albuquerque, NM 87191-6117
(505) 293-8006
website: http://www.lospequenos.org
We were edified by Fr. Neuhaus’ pointing out that CCHD dropped the title Catholic from its now CHD name. He also sounded the alarm in good time. May God rest his soul.
Thank you Mary, for your very informative post on Faith in Public Life. I was not aware of this organization, although I am aware of the scandal involving the CCHD. My children are enrolled in Faith Formation (the parish’s vocabulary) and the staff is so excited to be educating us on the theme of Catholic Social Teaching this school year. In fact, a good sister from the CCHD will be one of our monthly guest speakers. It just so happens she’ll be speaking in November at collection time. I am very troubled at what is going on in my parish and Diocese(Baltimore) and the American church. Please pray for me for the courage to stand up for truth. I love the Church, but I am being tempted to discouragement.
Just my opinion, but people really shouldn’t give to the CHD at all. It’s given a couple hundred million dollars to nefarious groups across the country.
I’ve just been through the USCCB’s 26-page list of organisations and the number of times the words ‘community organiser’, ‘community organisation’, ‘Industrial Areas Foundation’ (Alinsky’s ‘baby’) and ‘PICO’ appear is astounding.
http://www.usccb.org/cchd/grants/2009CCHDGrantees.pdf
Thanks to the Bellarmine Veritas Ministry for including the link of grantees on their Campaign page.
I am also very disappointed with the USCCB’s giving to ACORN until so late in 2008, when many of us were already aware of what a corrupt, far-left leaning organisation it really is, just by reading online information!
It’s your money. It’s up to you to choose how to donate it.