‘Letter from the Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Peace and Justice and the Campaign for Human Development:
‘The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is the domestic social justice, antipoverty program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Its goal is to break the cycle of poverty through empowerment initiatives and justice education. Throughout its 40-year history, CCHD has given thousands of people in the Archdiocese of Chicago the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty and live in dignity.
‘Recently, CCHD has come under attack from certain groups whose motivations and objectives are rooted in partisan politics, rather than faithfulness to Catholic teaching and concern for the poor.
Well not exactly. The criticism about CCHD had almost entirely come from Catholics faithful to the Magisterium upset about money supporting organizations which have a dim view of actual Catholic teaching. The criticism has not been coming from any political groups, but individuals consisting of Catholic bloggers and others. The fact that the Democratic party is so-linked with the Culture of Death and thus any criticism gets linked linked to partisanship instead of faithfulness to the Church and her mission. It is our faithfulness to Catholic teaching that makes us upset when CCHD funds go to organizations supporting abortion, contraceptions, and homosexual acts. We want money to actually go to the poor and not groups that will used it for culture of death advocacy. We have an equal love for the poor and it is quite uncharitable of you to assume we don’t and to frame our faithfulness to Church teaching as playing politics.
These groups have gone so far as to call for the elimination of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, making erroneous and inflammatory statements about the program, its supporters, and the projects it funds. Despite efforts on the part of the CCHD staff to reach out to these critics and respond to their concerns, anti-CCHD rhetoric has only become more fervent and hateful, and the time has come to rally in defense of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
So where is the mention of the report that lead to the withdrawal of funding for multiple groups CCHD has been supporting for years? If we did not raise our voices CCHD would still be materially cooperating with that evil. Besides some groups still receiving CCHD funds are beyond problematic. It was only recently that money to ACORN was stopped after years of support even though ACORN’s legal problems are nothing new.
‘As members of the Catholic community and followers of Christ, we are impelled to protect the poor and vulnerable of our society. We are called to pursue not only charity but justice, and to ‘set at liberty the oppressed.’ (Lk 4:18) Those who are trying to destroy the Catholic Campaign for Human Development deny the legitimate and pressing need for a faithful response to poverty in our communities. We must not allow the deceitful cries of these detractors, whose partisan agendas supersede their faith, to weaken our commitment to living out the message of Christ and the ideals of Catholic Social Teaching.
And I can do all of that without contributing one dime to CCHD. My parish has a soup kitchen and there are plenty of local Catholic organizations actually helping the poor that I can contribute to. I don’t have to have my money funneled via CCHD to dubious organizations to help the poor. CCHD has shown very poor judgment over the years and I can’t see a single reason for it to continue to exist. The fortress mentality instead of admitting some of the major problems does not advance the cause of promoting the CCHD. Maybe that argument can be made, but I haven’t heard it yet.
On November 21-22, the annual collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development will take place in parishes across the Archdiocese of Chicago. The money collected during that weekend will go directly to funding projects in impoverished communities throughout the city. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we counter the lies being spread about CCHD. Take a stand against injustice; break the cycle of poverty; support the Catholic Campaign for Human Development!
‘In Christ’s love,
‘Rey Flores, Program Director, Catholic Campaign for Human Development
‘Nicole Wooldridge, Program Assistant, Catholic Campaign for Human Development
‘Nicholas Lund-Molfese, Director, Office for Peace and Justice Adrienne Curry, Program Director, Catholic Relief Services
Once again we get the vague “lies” without pointing to something being said that is factually incorrect. If there are actually lies being told, please inform us of the truth.
I would also like to know why the issues on your web site include the economy, capital punishment, war, housing and other aspects of Catholic social teaching and not a word on the greatest threat of our times of abortion? How in the world can this be left off your list? And please don’t tell us – well the Respect Life Office handles that part. At the least include abortion on your list and link it to the Respect Life Office of the diocese. As long as the social justice offices treat the pro-life cause as the relative they don’t want to talk about, then don’t be surprised when we are dubious of your efforts.
Matt C. Abbott has replies from ALL and HLI on this.