November 17, 2009 - In the 2009 funding year, the Catholic Campaign For Human Development (CCHD)awarded approximately 250 grants totaling almost 8 million dollars.   When you open the summary funding document provided on the USCCB website and begin to peruse the grantees it doesn’t take long to arrive at a couple of conclusions.  The first is that many of these organizations are involved in community organizing. The second impression is many of these organizations espouse the mission of peace and justice. While it would be a mistake to paint all justice and peace organizations or all community organizing groups as bad or undeserving of funding, the philosophical underpinnings and track record of these types of organizations does not inspire confidence. Quite the opposite, it raises red flags.

As you begin to go to the individual websites of some of these organizations, and look around and see what they are doing, the uneasy feeling about just how these organizations are using your collection donations only gets worse.  Structural discrimination; opposition to military recruiting; empowerment; voter guides that equate support for the poor, death penalty opposition and several other issues as equal in value to the fight against abortion; radical Alinsky style non-violent training and activism, support of undocumented people (illegal aliens),  opposition to WTO, NAFTA, CAFTA are just a few of the surprises in store for the intrepid that have the desire and time to investigate the 2009 CCHD grantees.   

Bellarmine Veritas Ministry has released two separate reports over the past couple of months identify organizations funded by CCHD that support causes or have taken positions in opposition to Church teaching.  CCHD recently responded to these charges be defunding two of these organizations, but continue to fund others that were uncovered by Bellarmine Veritas’ investigation. The explanation provided for this decision was “bizarre” according to Michael Hitchborn of American Life League (ALL).  ALL released a video response to the CCHD’s explanation which points out the organizations that CCHD did not defund support same sex marriage, legalization of prostitution and abortion.
 
Yesterday ALL released detailing six additional organizations funded by CCHD that are engaging in anti-Catholic activities. Here is that list:

1) The Southwest Organizing Project ($45,000) encourages birth control through “comprehensive” sex education.

2) Chicago Workers Collaborative ($30,000) is listed with the Marxist group, International Socialist Organization, and participated in the Socialism 2009 conference by giving a presentation.

3) Voces de la Frontera ($50,000) promoted a homosexual campaign called “Gay Neighbor.org,” for ally group Equality Wisconsin.

4) Little Village Environmental Justice Organization ($40,000) promoted birth control and homosexual lifestyles in its newsletter to teens.

5) Massachusetts Community Labor United ($30,000) joined “Cure CVS Now” coalition to expand access to condoms.

6) Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center ($25,000) lists Cincinnati National Organization for Women, International Socialist Organization, and several pro-homosexual groups as “friends and colleagues” on its website.

Prior to ALL’s report we had started our own investigation of CCHD funding. Coincidentally one of the first organizations we looked at was one cited by American Life League: Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC) in Cincinnati, OH.

In addition to what ALL is reporting, we also found that the IJPC continues to support Amnesty International even though the Church as broken all ties with this pro-abortion organization.  Additionally AJPC shows as one of their allied organizations, the radical, far left, anti-war group Code Pink.

CCHD director Ralph McCloud told the Catholic News Service that groups are vetted through an approval process before receiving funding: “There are so many screens along the way.  We have the local (committees) looking at the organization, the local diocesan director. The local bishops will sign off and endorse the organization. Then national staff will have interviews and interact with the group.”

“Given how easily we discovered CCHD funding going to anti-Catholic causes, the only two possibilities are that the CCHD is incompetent or complicit,” responded Michael Hichborn, American Life League’s lead researcher into CCHD funding said. “We’re finding more and more evidence every day with far less information than the CCHD receives through its granting process.”

Hichborn is correct. We were able to uncover the information cited above on the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center with only a small amount of Internet research. Moreover we are convinced, based upon our very cursory review, that a thorough review of all of the grantees in the 2009 CCHD funding list is necessary. Sadly, based upon the track record to date, one can safely assume that there will be a significant number of other organizations that engage in or support activities that are in opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church that will be uncovered from a thorough vetting of grantees.  

ALL and several other groups including, Human Life International, the Bellarmine Veritas Ministry, Catholic Radio International, Real Catholic TV and the Catholic Media Coalition have formed a group called, The Reform CCHD Now Coalition.  This group is calling on Catholics everywhere to boycott the CCHD donation this Sunday by dropping our ‘No, Thank You” statement in the collection basket,’ said Hichborn. The "No Thank You" coupon can be found on the Reform CCHD website.  Also on the website are a list of organizations serving and representing the poor in an authentically Christian way.

Based upon our brief review of the CCHD grantees for 2009 we support this call for withholding support for CCHD in Sunday’s collection in parishes throughout the U.S.  Many, many Catholics who financially support the Church will be dismayed, disheartened and angry that the Church thru CCHD continues to fund organizations that engage a broad range of activities that are directly opposed Catholic teaching. 

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