Catholics in the U.S. will be asked this morning to donate to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. In the last few years the CCHD has been criticized for giving money to groups that support a variety of "social justice" causes that conflict with Catholic teaching. The bishops have assured Catholics that these groups have been de-funded.
Here's the difficult thing. Community organizing groups often funnel grant money to secondary and tertiary groups that are not immediately known to the granting institution. CCHD may give $50,000 to "Save Our Neighborhood," who grants $20,000 to the "Park Project," who then grants $10,000 to the local abortion clinic for improvements to its security fence. Maybe some in the CCHD know about this, many don't. It's hard to track the money. Layers of groups with complex bureaucracies and innocent-sounding names, claiming to do worthwhile things can easily hide their activities from the original granter. I used to write grants for one of the largest public universities in the South. You wouldn't believe the layers of waste that the money has to filter through!
Now, should you give to the CCHD? Here's what Archbishop Chaput has to say:
People, first of all, should be prudent. They shouldn’t just jump to rash conclusions. I have seen some blogs that are excessive in their judgment of the issue and are harsh in what they say.
Some of the members of the CCHD staff who have allocated funds from the collection have made mistakes, and I think the Campaign itself admits that.
Whether these mistakes are frequent enough for people to be as upset as they are is a matter of the facts: They have to look what the facts are, not just jump to conclusions. People shouldn’t believe everything they read or be upset with the kind of intensity that I’ve seen, because I think that intensity leads to blindness.
I think that people can contribute to the collection without worrying that they are supporting causes that conflict with Church teaching.
At the same time, Jesus tells us that our treasure should be where our heart is. If people don’t like the decisions of the Campaign staff and their allocations, one of the ways they can show their displeasure is by withholding funds from their diocesan collections. It’s unfortunate that mistakes have been made, and I think the staff has to be more cautious and more critical in its judgment.
There are many ways of responding to the situation. We bishops serve ourselves and the collection well if we are honest about mistakes, try not to make them again, and move on appropriately.
Fair enough. So, give if you are called to it. . .but at the same time hold the CCHD accountable to Church teaching.
Here's the difficult thing. Community organizing groups often funnel grant money to secondary and tertiary groups that are not immediately known to the granting institution. CCHD may give $50,000 to "Save Our Neighborhood," who grants $20,000 to the "Park Project," who then grants $10,000 to the local abortion clinic for improvements to its security fence. Maybe some in the CCHD know about this, many don't. It's hard to track the money. Layers of groups with complex bureaucracies and innocent-sounding names, claiming to do worthwhile things can easily hide their activities from the original granter. I used to write grants for one of the largest public universities in the South. You wouldn't believe the layers of waste that the money has to filter through!
Now, should you give to the CCHD? Here's what Archbishop Chaput has to say:
People, first of all, should be prudent. They shouldn’t just jump to rash conclusions. I have seen some blogs that are excessive in their judgment of the issue and are harsh in what they say.
Some of the members of the CCHD staff who have allocated funds from the collection have made mistakes, and I think the Campaign itself admits that.
Whether these mistakes are frequent enough for people to be as upset as they are is a matter of the facts: They have to look what the facts are, not just jump to conclusions. People shouldn’t believe everything they read or be upset with the kind of intensity that I’ve seen, because I think that intensity leads to blindness.
I think that people can contribute to the collection without worrying that they are supporting causes that conflict with Church teaching.
At the same time, Jesus tells us that our treasure should be where our heart is. If people don’t like the decisions of the Campaign staff and their allocations, one of the ways they can show their displeasure is by withholding funds from their diocesan collections. It’s unfortunate that mistakes have been made, and I think the staff has to be more cautious and more critical in its judgment.
There are many ways of responding to the situation. We bishops serve ourselves and the collection well if we are honest about mistakes, try not to make them again, and move on appropriately.
Fair enough. So, give if you are called to it. . .but at the same time hold the CCHD accountable to Church teaching.