Revisiting Bishop Morin’s Memo Regarding Our CCHD Campaign

On October 2nd, Bishop Roger Morin, Chairman of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) Subcommittee released a memo in response to our initial report concerning the CCHD.   As we reported on Oct. 8 in our initial response to Bishop Morin, three grantees listed in our CCHD report were stripped of funding and two others were investigated and cleared by the USCCB for further funding.

Bishop Morin stated:

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. (source:  Memorandum issued by Bishop Morin to US Bishops, Oct. 2nd, 2009)

The two CCHD grantees in question are LA CAN and the Womens Community Revitalization Project.  We have yet to hear an adequate explanation as to how our initial presentation regarding these two groups was flawed, and now have further evidence to support our charge that the Womens Community Revitalization Project (WCRP) should be immediately stripped of all funding by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

In early 2009, the WCRP received a grant totaling $16,400 from the Philadelphia based organization Women’s Way. (Source: Women’s Way web-site)  Women’s Way, like many organizations which give grants, has a strict policy in place as to what manner of organizations are eligible for grants.

This policy includes the following:

What WOMEN’S WAY is NOT Interested in Funding
WOMEN’S WAY seeks applications that support our mission. The following types of organizations and projects conflict with our values and funding philosophy and would not be considered.

• Organizations that consider themselves to be pro-life
• Organizations and projects that do not support a woman’s full range of reproductive choices
• Organizations and projects promoting abstinence-only sex education
• Organizations and projects opposing same sex relationships or marriage (Emphasis present in original.  Source: Women’s Way web-site)

Therefore, if the Womens Community Revitalization Project is eligible for this grant from Women’s Way, by definition they are ineligible for funding by the CCHD.

Please keep this in mind on November 22, the date of the CCHD national collection.    Unless the CCHD removes WCRP from the grants list, a portion of your CCHD donation may very well go to the WCRP.  Also, this highlights the need for reform in the CCHD grants process.  WCRP not only cleared the initial screening to receive CCHD funding, but was also cleared for continued funding after the investigation by the CCHD following our initial report.