Say NO to CCHD
29Whoever misgoverns a house inherits the wind, and the fool becomes slave to the wise.
During a frustrating argument with a Roman Catholic cardinal, Napoleon Bonaparte supposedly burst out: “Your eminence, are you not aware that I have the power to destroy the Catholic Church?” The cardinal, the anecdote goes, responded ruefully: “Your majesty, we, the Catholic clergy, have done our best to destroy the church for the last 1,800 years. We have not succeeded, and neither will you.”
Anecdote from EWTN Radio
We are participating in a campaign to stop contributions to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). As many are aware, the CCHD has in the past provided funding to ACORN. This funding was suspended in June of 2008 due to the embezzlement scandal at ACORN. Since then, the ACORN voter fraud and ACORN Housing/prostitution video scandals have erupted, re-emphasizing the poor judgment shown in funding them in the first place.
What is not commonly known is that CCHD was essentially created to fund Alisnkyian organizing. The largest percentage of its grants go into these sorts of groups - such as ACORN (now defunded) and the IAF. If you are like us, you have always assumed CCHD collections went to direct charity efforts.
We believe that this indicates poor stewardship of our donations by the USCCB, and certainly miscommunication about the nature of the collection. In addition, it shows poor judgment by the USCCB in the selection of those they chose to trust to run CCHD. The potential good they could be doing is subverted to a political agenda. Read the Mission Statement for the CCHD and see how well you believe they have fulfilled it.
We were asked by a number of people this year about whether to donate to the Catholic Charities collection. Because of the assurances we received from the Archbishop and Tim O'Connor we did not participate in any efforts against the Catholic Charities collection, rather leaving it up to each persons conscience. However, the CCHD neither deserves nor will it receive this benefit of the doubt.
You will be told that much of the information you see here is not true. However, the fact that CCHD funds Alinskyian organizing isn't a matter of opinion but can be verified by anyone examining the CCHD annual reports, which are available at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' website. Therefore, you must decide. If you support Alinskyian community organizing then support the CCHD, but if you DO NOT support Alinskyian community organizing then DO NOT support the CCHD.
We are encouraging all Catholics in the United States to Say No to CCHD this year and instead donate to a worthy cause. Print out and place one of the following certificates, along with a copy of your check, in the CCHD envelope instead of a donation this year.
The following links may help you to make your decision:
Spero News: JustFaith Is a Big Part of the Problem
Spero News: Mopping up the CCHD
Spero News: Let's have a Catholic tea party
The Scandal of John Carr at the USCCB | Spero News
These articles by Stephanie Block discuss issues with the USCCB and the CCHD.
Catholic bishops and laity clash over CCHD | Daily Estimate
Catholic Campaign for Saul Alinksy Styled Community Organizing - The Curt Jester
YouTube - Catholic Campaign for Anti-Catholic Activities - This is a video produced by the American Life League about the problems currently plaguing the CCHD.
The Influence Of Saul Alinsky On The Campaign For Human Development - This is a scholarly article by Lawrence J. Engel who served from 1984 to 1989 on the national staff of the Campaign for Human Development.
YouTube - CCHD - Video presentation by Stephanie Block
YouTube - Join the CCHD Boycott - Video from the Catholic Meadia Coalition on the CCHD boycott.
CCHD, in policy and practice, denies funding to groups that take positions contrary to Catholic teaching - Memo to Bishops from Bishop Roger P. Morin, CCHD Chairman; October 2, 2009, responding to Bellarmine Veritas Ministry's concerns.
USCCB - Catholic Campaign for Human Development Home Page
Click on the certificate of your choice below to bring up a high quality Adobe PDF version suitable for printing:
Last Updated: Sunday, April 18, 2010 09:28 PM -0500
