One of the untold stories in the Obama campaign is how his background in community organizing has direct links to Catholic funding -- from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Catholic journalist Stephanie Block has been writing about the CCHD for many years, but it has been difficult to stimulate any serious concern about their funding the innocuous sounding activity of "community development." Innocuous or not, Obama's years as a community organizer were supported, in part, by Catholic money dispersed by the USCCB.

Barak Obama - was lead organizer in Chicago for the Developing Communities Project, it received a $40,000 Catholic Campaign for Human Development grant in 1985 and a $33,000 grant in 1986.

While he was in Chicago Obama was trained by the top Alinskyian organizers. One mentor was the ex-Jesuit, Greg Galuzzo, lead organizer for Gamaliel. The Developing Communities Project operated under the Gamaliel Foundation, a network of Alinskyian organizations that receive 4-5% of all Catholic Campaign for Human Development grants each year.

The Developing Communities Project, which hired Obama as lead organizer, was an offshoot of Jerry Kellman's Calumet Community Religious Conference. Kellman, another of Obama's mentors, was himself trained by Alinsky. The network of community organizations Alinsky founded, the Industrial Areas Foundation, receives about 16% of all Catholic Campaign for Human Development grants annually.

ACORN itself, very closely identified with Obama, recieves  Catholic Campaign funding:

After Obama went to Harvard Law School, he returned to Chicago and taught Alinskyian organizing to ACORN staff. Although ACORN has a different structure than other Alinskyian networks, its tactical philosophy and world view are formed by men who were trained by Alinsky, in a sort of diabolical apostolic succession. Obama ran ACORN's 1992 voter-registration drive, Project Vote, and in return received ACORN's endorsement for Illinois senator. ACORN annually receives about 5% of Catholic Campaign for Human Development grants.

Some years ago I published an article in Crisis about CCHD, and spent some time studying their grants as pubished on the USCCB web site. There were long lists of $20,000 to $30,000 grants to groups and communities all over the United States, all under the rubric of "community organizing." It was clear to me that "organizing" meant training in politics, and I had no illusions about the kind of politics the recipients were being trained in.

As Block explains:

This translates into millions of dollars of Catholic money over the last four decades going into Alinskyian community organizing. Catholics generously gave their money to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection because they were told it would "help the poor."

Relatively little from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection goes to "help the poor." Alinskyian networks are political. They work closely with politicians - such as Obama - and other organizations that are fighting for abortion and homosexual "rights." ACORN's "People's Platform" has nothing in common with Catholic social justice teaching and everything in common with socialism. Gamaliel and the Industrial Areas Foundation teach liberationism, a form of "Christianized" socialism, among their members.

This has serious ramifications for Catholics. The Alinskyian networks operate ecumenically and include numerous Catholic parishes. The Catholics involved in the extensive trainings these networks offer are not catechized in Catholic principles of social activism or political analysis but in Marxist analysis and praxis. Their worldview is marred by visions of class struggle and perpetual revolution. They are systematically trained to renounce moral truth in favor of consensus-based "values."

Catholics trained in Alinskyian thought become confused about the comparative moral weight of the issues they encounter in the public arena. They also become confused about the legitimate authority of the Church, frequently imagining they can apply consensus-building strategies to doctrines and moral truth. They are the same Catholics who people the dissident Call to Action chapters around the country.

99% of Catholics in the pews haven't any idea of how much they have invested in building the political infrastructure that has now been activated to support Obama. That infrastructure always supports the Democratic Party and its candidate, but now they have a candidate who comes directly out of their political culture, well to the left of previous Democratic nominees like Gore and Kerry.

Why has the Church allowed the CCHD to continue all this time? I think Block put its well when she says,

Ironically, they [dissident Catholics] learned these confused ideas in their parishes, through Church-sponsored "educational" programs such as the Catholic Campaign for Human Development's liberationist "Poverty and Faithjustice". Because of this confusion, Catholics, who ought to be a powerful, consistent voice for moral values in society, are fragmented and ineffective. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development bears much of the responsibility.

A few bishops understand exactly what the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is and approve what it funds. Most, however, swallow the concept of its "helping the poor" and have probed no deeper. Busy about the Lord's work of minding their dioceses, they've trusted others to run the "social justice" offices.

Block thinks the Obama candidacy will shine a light on the activities of the CCHD and elicit a reevaluation of its mission and funding. I doubt it, sorry to say. The CCHD is very well-protected by those who control the USCCB and its funding. But here is Block's hope:

In this sense, the nomination of Barak Obama has been a great blessing. Even the politically naïve are fascinated by the pejorative dismissal of Obama as a "community organizer" and his campaign's rebuttal that to disrespect community organizers is to disrespect Catholic Action. Obama isn't Catholic. Catholic thought hasn't subtly filtered into this ecumenical movement. Amoral Alinskyian thought, on the other hand, has clearly filtered into Catholic circles - to such a degree that some people confuse one for the other.

Obama's nomination is a window of opportunity to explain - starting with the bishops - the difference between Alinskyian principles and Catholic Action. They and other Catholics should find materials about Obama's Alinskyian roots quite interesting. We need to be sharing those materials.

After 40 years of funding the bad guys, it's time to stop.

Block's article is aptly titled, "The Chickens Come Home to Roost: Obama, ACORN, and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development."

PS. For the last 30 days of the campaign, I will be blogging each day about politics at "Theocon," along with InsideCatholic contributor Marjorie Campbell.