Freeper Research Needed On CCHD (Catholic's Need To Know Where $ Goes-ACORN???)

The bishops announced on Nov 11 that ACORN will no longer be getting money from the Catholic Church (timed nicely to help people feel better about giving to CCHD this Sunday?) but there may be some questionable groups among these that got money in 2007.

CASA of Maryland, Inc.

Theres one that should jump out at MD freepers! Please check your home state for groups you might be familiar with.

Gustavo Torres, their executive director, recently said this about the Minuteman Project members who’ve been monitoring illegal labor hiring halls:

“We are going to target [the MMP members] in a specific way... [by taking their own pictures]... Then we are going to picket their houses, and the schools of their kids, and go to their work... If they are going to do this to us, we are going to respond in the same way, to let people know their neighbors are extremists, that they are anti-immigrant. They are going to hear from us.”

In.

I asked the ushers after Mass yesterday.
Neither knew. I will be finding out.

HERE IS THE MONEY QUOTE - EMBEDDED IN ONE OF THE STORIES LINKED BELOW:

“We’re not really involved in charity,” said Rev. Alfred LoPinto when he was the CHD executive director in 1987. “We fund self-help projects, and it’s considered funding for justice.” .

CCHD IS ALL ABOUT FUNDING LEFT-WING ADVOCACY. ITS AS BAD AS DONATING TO MOVE-ON.ORG.

On the grantee lists, The “Interfaith” label is a common one ... These are left-wing activist groups that extract money from churches for their political advocacy. Note that in our area, “Austin Interfaith” is a part of a coalition of “Interfaith” groups, that are all under the umbrella of the “industrial areas foundation”. I found this out when I went through the shocking experience of an Interfaith “Accountability” session ... It was Orwellian.

http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2008/10/no-faith-in-austin-interfaith.html

Here’s the upshot - the founder of Industrial Areas Foundation was SAUL ALINSKY. THESE ARE ALL BRANCHES OF THE ALINSKY TREE, and ACORN is just one nut of that tree. CCHD funding is for many more groups like it. ITS JUST ABOUT WHERE 99% OF THEIR MONEY GOES.

And see this:

Catholic Citizens of Illinois calls for Boycott of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development
http://www.catholiccitizens.org/press/contentview.asp?c=48745

“The CCHD was sold to Catholic parishioners with a slogan of “a hand up instead of a hand out,” but instead, CCHD has heavily invested in the political organizing techniques of Saul Alinky, a Marxist organizer from Chicago who founded the nationwide Industrial Areas Foundation, which in the Chicago area is known as United Power. United Power has been financed by various mainline Protestant churches and has made great inroads into the Catholic Church in Chicago, recruiting parish ministers and receiving funding from various parishes through dues and contributions. For all practical purposes, United Power is an extension of the far left wing of the Democrat Party.”

“Mrs. Hackett stated further, “Funding campaigns for socialist programs and Democrat Party candidates has no place in the mission of the Catholic Church or in service to the poor.” The funds are collected from the Catholic parishioners with no accountability to them for the expenditures. Nor does the Campaign for Human Development fund Catholic Institutions and apostolates that work with the poor.”

The Catholic connection to Barack Obama
http://www.catholiccitizens.org/about/

Thanks to our friend Kevin, below are several stories designed to tear back the curtain on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, or CCHD, or as I call it, Catholic Cash Helping Democrats...

http://www.catholiccitizens.org/press/contentview.asp?c=10015

http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9908/public.html#time

Time for a Step Further, by Rev. Richard John Neuhaus

The criticism of CCHD is fine so far as it goes, says an old hand at inner-city community organizing here in New York, but it doesn’t go far enough. ... the criticism of some of the more egregious abuses in CCHD funding is having its effect, and that’s good. But now it’s time to go further and make the case that the “Catholic” in the Catholic Campaign for Human Development should indicate more than the source of the monies and other resources employed. It should be an honest indicator of all the ends to which they are employed.

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http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2002_11.html

Follow the money

This is a good time of year to ask where the money is going, because parishes will soon be taking up their annual collection for the “Catholic Campaign for Human Development”, which probably has the most doubtful value of any project the U.S. bishops sponsor. ... Over the years protests from conservatives have led to increasing restrictions on the program; and if the hard Left is squawking, they must be an improvement. Under new management, CCHD has started honoring the new restrictions, at least when a violation is brought to its attention. Still, I doubt I’ll ever be willing to give a red cent to CCHD.

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http://catholiccitizens.org/press/pressview.asp?c=8423

Catholic Citizens of Illinois, How One of the Most Potent Weapons Serving the ‘Culture of Death’Lies in the Pockets of Catholic Donors

CCI NOTES: The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is an annual collection taken up in Catholic parishes around the United States. Over one third of their grants go to Alinsky-styled political organizations. The largest are the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), Pacific Institute for Community Organizing (PICO), Direct Action and Research Training Institute (DART), Gamaliel, and ACORN. ...

These so-called community organizations DO NOT provide direct services to relieve the suffering of the poor, nor do they provide economic development grants for the poor. Rather, they organize institutions - particularly in and around churches - to fight for political power.

Illinois Catholics are advised that in spite of laudable CHD undertakes, your donations are also being used to sabotage Church teachings. Catholic donors to CHD are paying for organizations who fight for health clinics that dispense contraceptives and make abortion referrals. Catholic donors to CHD pay for political organizing that supports pro-abortion politicians. ...

Another CCHD funded network is ACORN, which generally takes 5-6% of the national CCHD annual budget. It’s one of the most flagrantly political among CCHD’s grantees, having formed a political party, the New Party, in a political alliance with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), among others. ... There’s no secret about ACORN’s political activism. ... The New Party is pro-abortion. It’s website links to such “friends” as the Abortion Rights Activist Home Page, NARAL (National Abortion and Reproduction Rights Action League), and NOW (National Organization for Women). ... ACORN is also pro-abortion. Maud Hurd, ACORN’s national president, was a speaker at Expo ‘96 for Woman’s Empowerment. The purpose of the exposition was to develop a response to “the conservative use of ballot initiatives to attack women’s rights and to galvanize a right-wing voteŠ”

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http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/magazines/1999/may/torres.html

Philanthropy Roundtable magazine, March/April 2002, Closing the Fungibility Loophole, Is the CCHD getting back that old time religion? by Justin Torres

“Every November just before Thanksgiving, American Catholics dig into their pockets to support the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), a nationwide program ... Most Catholics in the pew, however, are unaware that CCHD has recently been enmeshed in controversy over criticism from both sides of the political spectrum-including conservative charges that the organization has funded anti-Catholic activities, and liberal concerns that the group is abandoning the poor. ... CCHD does not even allow funds to be dedicated to ‘direct service projects’ such as health clinics or homeless shelters for the poor. ... It will come as no surprise that this focus on advocacy instead of actual services has led CCHD to fund left-wing organizations that seek to block welfare reform, redistribute income, and build networks of left-wing advocates.

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http://www.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=1&art_id=800

The Catholic Exchange - Your Faith. Your Life. Your World.

A Different Kind of Collection, by Kathryn Jean Lopez, 11/18/00

This weekend congregants in most Roman Catholic parishes across the United States will be asked to contribute to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Most will probably write out a check or throw money into the basket for this - just another second collection. This particular second collection, however, should give pause. ... In the past, some CCHD grantees have been involved in projects that are clearly contrary to what Catholics believe. Yet every year Catholics give millions to CCHD. ...

In years past, CCHD has encountered difficulty with grants to groups that sometimes oppose Catholic teaching, and grants to coalitions that include groups like the avidly pro-abortion National Organization for Women (NOW). Revised guidelines issued last year - shortly after the name change that added “Catholic” - addressed these concerns ... But there are still reasons for concern. This year’s “Fight the Right March,” run by the National Organization for Women, was endorsed by ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which receives substantial funding from CCHD. In 1999-2000, CCHD granted a total of $517,000 to 17 state and local chapters of ACORN - an 18 percent increase over the previous year’s grants. ... And the list goes on.

It’s as if the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is living in a different time. CCHD is stuck in, as one observer called it, a “Sixties time warp,” happy to fund left-wing political mobilization and “anti-poverty” groups. ... CCHD granted $28,000 to the Kansas-based Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice in the 1999-2000 cycle. In March, the radical organization sponsored a campus lecture at Kansas State University which devolved into a “Free Mumia” rally. ... Another CCHD grantee is the Missoula, Montana-based WEEL (Working for Equality and Economic Liberation), which was granted $30,000 in 1999-2000. ...

Typical of CCHD grantees, WEEL’s rhetoric is a thinly disguised attack on free market and pro-market politics, described as “belief and policy systems which keep people oppressed.” ... To fund groups that take positions contrary to Catholic teachings and to ostracize anyone who doesn’t share CCCD’s politics are serious concerns for Catholic churchgoers. But how can truth and justice prevail if they won’t help anyone get to it?

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http://www.capitalresearch.org/pubs/pubs.asp?ID=106

Capital Research Center, November 1999, Campaign for Human Development Improves ..., But Significant Flaws Remain in Catholic Anti-Poverty Program

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http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3838368207a8.htm

CCHD [Catholic Campaign for Human Development] Continues to Fund the Left

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http://www.lospequenos.org/Pepper%20Issues/NOV02Pepper.doc

Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Where Does CCHD Money Go?

“... not one dollar to CCHD will ever be earmarked to feed anyone. CCHD didn’t claim that it would. In fact, if you dig a little, the CCHD will admit it doesn’t support any “direct services” to the poor. “We’re not really involved in charity,” said Rev. Alfred LoPinto when he was the CHD executive director in 1987. “We fund self-help projects, and it’s considered funding for justice.” ... So, where does the other 80% of CCHD funding go? The majority, according to the CCHD chart, goes into “community development,” housing, and what are called “family issues” - homelessness, youth programs, childcare, education, anti-violence, healthcare, etc. A further breakdown shows that fully one third of all CCHD grants go to Alinsky-style organizations, such as Albuquerque Interfaith and ACORN. CCHD-funded Alinsky organizations aren’t about feeding the poor; they’re about drumming up support for a radicalized political agenda.

Sabotaging Respect Life: Environmentalism no substitute for saving babies.

“...there are more than 5,000 babies aborted in the State of New Mexico each year! The most powerful and richest church on earth can do a lot to change this, if it had a focused will to do so.

In the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, it doesn’t seem to. Along with fine words and little strategy, Sr. Joan Brown (a supporter of New Mexico’s Call to Action) gave a presentation about the “Care of the Earth.” This was also offered as a life issue. Please don’t misunderstand. I know we need to be responsible stewards of the earth that God has given us dominion over, but Brown’s handouts, “Parish Ideas to Care for God’s Creation” and her prayer for global restoration were downright pagan: “Integrate more earth elements into services such as water, rocks, plants.” What has this to do with the saving power of Christ? What has this to do with saving babies in immediate danger of abortion? Has our leadership lost direction, given up on the unborn, and abandoned these babies?

What right have a people to incorporate into their worship services “Let us pray for the earth,” as Sister’s handout suggests, who have not said “Let us pray for God’s murdered unborn and for His forgiveness?”

What right have a people to “give thanks for the hawk, desert willow and water,” who have failed to be thankful for the one creature created in His own image?

http://catholiccitizens.org/press/pressview.asp?c=9657

CCHD: The Catholic Campaign to Help Democrats?, By George Kocan

George Kocan is a Republican Committeeman in Warrenville, Illinois, and a long-time activist in Catholic causes.

Every Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, the Catholic bishops collect money at Mass for their Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). ... Curiously, the CCHD prohibits giving money to organizations that actually feed, clothe or house needy persons. The funds must go to organizations that push social or structural change. ... For thirty years, the bishops have been paying lip-service to the right to life, while putting Catholic money into Alinsky-style organizations like the IAF. They gave IAF a million dollars. They gave a million to ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) ... Joseph Cardinal Bernardin gave a million to the Chicago Metropolitan Sponsors (CMS) (while shutting down parochial schools) so that it could hire IAF to organize United Power for Action and Justice (UPAJ). ... Catholic bishops gave millions of dollars to organizations that oppose everything Catholic, to ACORN, to IAF, to CMF but not a cent to struggling pro-life operations like Joe Schiedler’s Pro-life Action League or Conrad Wojnar’s Womens Center. Both of these devout Catholic men endured great legal and financial difficulties when NOW sued them in federal court for “racketeering”. ... The bishops give no real support to the cause of life and the family because that would undermine Democrat power. Serious Catholics must affirm their faith by rejecting the financial trick that the bishops turn every Thanksgiving into a treat for the culture of death.

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http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b2136ed0f0c.htm

Why Is Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Funding Leadership Training for NARAL?

“If you visit the link for the Campaign for Human Development, you will find that a $30,000 grant was made to “Organize! Ohio’s” ... If you then go to the “Organize! Ohio’s” webpage, you will find listed as a member organization of OO is the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League of Ohio.”

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http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b45e6806535.htm

LifeSite.net Investigates Catholic Diocese’s Funding of Radical Abortion Group

CLEVELAND CATHOLIC DIOCESE DONATED $30,000 TO GROUP WITH TIES TO N.A.R.A.L.

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/569153/posts

Catholic Campaign for Human Development?

“My parish is again asking for donations to the Campaign for Human Development. Does anyone know if they ever cleaned up their act, or are they still helping to support pro-abortion groups?”

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http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=2885

A Commentary on the Industrial Areas Foundation, The Wanderer Forum Foundation, Inc., December 1998

This commentary was prepared in response to proposed changes in the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) guidelines. It provides information about the Industrial Areas Foundation, which receives the largest percentage of CCHD grants of

I thought they cut sccorn off?

http://lonestartimes.com/2008/11/17/catholic-church-cuts-off-acorn/

AREA E\Texas\Austin Austin Interfaith Sponsoring Committee $40,000.00
Community Organizing
ECONOMIC JUSTICE

This group does NOTHING to help the poor, it is a POLITICAL ORGANIZATION that includes teachers unions, and it is far-left advocacy group:

http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2008/10/no-faith-in-austin-interfaith.html

Austin Interfaith is pushing a narrow liberal agenda (including agenda items of teachers unions) into the church, rather than taking the church members’ agenda into the community. The Catholic church should not be taken advantage of in this way. To put it bluntly: Why is the moral capital of the Catholic church squandered on pet issues of the teacher’s unions and other external groups, when those groups themselves have enough power to push their own agenda?”

Note that every single other group had a “community organization” aspect to it. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME FORMULA: LEFTWING ADVOCACY GROUPS SET UP TO AGIGATE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.

12-November-2008 — Catholic News Agency

U.S. Bishops Cut All Funding to ACORN, Activities Funded Hard to Determine
Baltimore, Nov 11, 2008 (CNA).- The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has not yet been able to determine if grants made to ACORN were used for fraudulent voter registration, but has cut off all funding to the community organizing group, Bishop Robert Morin announced on Tuesday.

Shortly after addressing the full assembly of U.S. Catholic bishops, Bishop Morin spoke to reporters about what the bishops had learned concerning the use of grants from the CCHD to the group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which is currently under investigation in 13 states for voter fraud.

CCHD originally announced in July 2008 that it was suspending funding to ACORN because of the embezzlement of 1 million dollars by the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke. Today, however, the Bishop Morin went one step further and announced the cancelation of all funding to the group.

When Bishop Morin was asked by the press why CCHD didn’t cancel funding earlier, given the nearly decade-old accusations of voter fraud, he responded that “there are hundreds of local ACORN affiliates” and then made reference to his estimate that CCHD only had a relationship with 40 to 45 of them.

“It’s a mistake and an erroneous assumption when people equate ACORN activities with something that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is doing,” Bishop Morin added.

In an earlier report to the full assembly of bishops, Bishop Morin announced that a forensic audit that was conducted for the bishops found that “our funds were not involved with those that had been embezzled.”

However, speaking at the press conference, he added that “the question I can’t answer, which I think is essential, is whether or not CCHD did make or has ever made a grant or activities to those particular ACORNS [involved in voter fraud].”

“We have not had reports from individual locations where we’ve been involved in a funding relationship that those local authorities were involved. If they were, then funding was cut off,” Bishop Morin said, stressing that CCHD’s ability to discover how its funds were used is hampered by the co-mingling of Catholic dollars with other grants.

Bishop Morin also pointed out that the forensic audit conducted for the bishops was a fiscal audit that did not look at the activities of the ACORN branches and not their activities.

The press conference then turned to questions about the Freedom of Choice Act and the statement that Cardinal Francis George will make on Catholics and politics tomorrow.

Thanks for all the info!!!

JMO, save your money. If your parish is putting together Thanksgiving baskets, donate to that cause.

I don’t give to many of the 2nd collections because I don’t trust them with my money any more than I trust the government with my taxes. I keep mine at my parish doing things that I approve of.

I am recently disgusted with the way our priest is spending our operating fund so I am currently giving a quarter of what I used to, I will find a more worthy cause for my money.

When I was a Methodist I was appalled when I found out about the “Council of Churches” and their leftist policies. As I child, I Trick or Treated for UNICEF and was appalled that we children were used that way.

I am just sick of working and worrying and trying to make ends meet and then our churches and our governments squander our money.

There are many better groups to give to, RC’s should consider giving to Little Sisters of the Poor.

About 15 years ago my oldest brother who was a Deacon (he’s now deceased), told our family not to give to the CHD as it was seriously suspect in the use of the money given to it.

Yet another link:

http://www.catholicmediacoalition.org/faith_public_life3.htm

They cut ACORN off, but everyone else CCHD gives to is cut from the same left-wing activism cloth.

Dont give a RED CENT to this Red-sponsoring organization.