Archbishop Chaput chastises critics of organizing team for World Meeting of Families [CC]

[Catholic_Press]

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia has denounced two activist Catholic groups that called attention to connections between officials of the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) and …

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[3DOCTORS]

Hope it’s okay to quote a little more of the article to give context:

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia has denounced two activist Catholic groups that called attention to connections between officials of the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) and politicians who support legal abortion.

The WMOF will be held in Philadelphia in September, with an appearance by Pope Francis as the highlight. In preparation for the event, the Philadelphia archdiocese assembled a team of organizers, including both full-time executives to arrange the events and community leaders to serve in advisory or honorary roles.

The Lepanto Institute and ChurchMilitant.com issued reports earlier this week, revealing that Robert Ciarrufoli, the head of the WMOF leadership team, has provided financial support to pro-abortion political candidates—including one candidate who had been director of a Planned Parenthood clinic.

In reply, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia issued this statement:

The Lepanto Institute has proven once again that it is not interested in presenting information in any useful way. Neither the World Meeting of Families—Philadelphia 2015 nor any of its leadership supports Planned Parenthood. Lepanto’s sole intention is to create division, confusion, and conflict within the Church. Actions of that nature run contrary to Christian tradition. Their reports are not to be taken seriously.

I must say this is messing with my mind - unless, as the article further states, the civilian members of the team are only “prominent community leaders who have taken honorary roles” and that distinction is clearly made to the faithful. Perhaps someone in Philly can shed some light?

 

[ringil]

Did I read “churchMillitant”? Well, you know if Voris is involved; it’s got to be legit right?

 

[pnewton]

From the article:

Both Lepanto and ChurchMilitant sow division wherever they tread. They do not seem to acknowledge the need to work with civic society and its representatives on a project like the World Meeting of Families. And we are not going to spend/waste time arguing with them. They are sincere, but also destructive *- AB Chaput

The Catholic Church operate authoritatively. When groups operate outside that authrority as a check on extremism, it is to be expected that even the best intentions will result in more harm than good.