Concern about USCCB Campaign for Human Development

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We disagree clearly.

I have no issue with the Church supporting well meaning socially focused orgs that support causes consistent with the Christian ethic and Church teaching.

I’ll freely admit that there are likely some orgs receive funds even though some of their actions fall outside of Church teaching … these instances should be stamped out. However, I believe the good to far outweigh the questionable or even bad

Religion is more than what happens inside the Church building… in fact religion is useless if it only stays inside the Church walls
 
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Last one for me… from Rerum Novarum
  1. In regard to the Church, her cooperation will never be found lacking, be the time or the occasion what it may; and she will intervene with all the greater effect in proportion as her liberty of action is the more unfettered. Let this be carefully taken to heart by those whose office it is to safeguard the public welfare. Every minister of holy religion must bring to the struggle the full energy of his mind and all his power of endurance. Moved by your authority, venerable brethren, and quickened by your example, they should never cease to urge upon men of every class, upon the high-placed as well as the lowly, the Gospel doctrines of Christian life; by every means in their power they must strive to secure the good of the people; and above all must earnestly cherish in themselves, and try to arouse in others, charity, the mistress and the queen of virtues. For, the happy results we all long for must be chiefly brought about by the plenteous outpouring of charity; of that true Christian charity which is the fulfilling of the whole Gospel law, which is always ready to sacrifice itself for others’ sake, and is man’s surest antidote against worldly pride and immoderate love of self; that charity whose office is described and whose Godlike features are outlined by the Apostle St. Paul in these words: “Charity is patient, is kind, . . . seeketh not her own, . . . suffereth all things, . . . endureth all things.”(41)
Now… on to dinner
 
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godisgood77 said:
The richer class have many ways of shielding themselves, and stand less in need of help from the State; whereas the mass of the poor have no resources of their own to fall back upon, and must chiefly depend upon the assistance of the State. And it is for this reason that wage-earners, since they mostly belong in the mass of the needy, should be specially cared for and protected by the government.

See the Church teaches that the state has an obligation to the poor… and the Church supports that effort …
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And this, is the exhortation from Rerum Novarum, that is missing in application.
 
Loud-living-dogma said:
I’m sorry - - does this look like a religious organization to you? They may be great candidates, I have no idea, but religion, this ain’t.
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And this is exactly the problem. There is no question that the CCHD gives money and support to worthwhile groups. What is at issue is that they also give money to support organizations that do not deserve it, and that in fact support causes that are antithetical to the church’s teaching. This is what the objections to the CCHD are all about, and if the bishops cannot effectively control where the donations go then I at least will direct my donations where they can be assured of going to organizations I actually support.
 
I’m wondering about crs Rice bowl: should I just give the money to our parish’s St. Vincent de Paul instead? It seems like there have been problems with crs too in the past? Anyone else have thoughts on this?
 
I think Chicago is a difficult case because of the influence/control of the mobs, which are still very strong in this city (and St. Louis) even though it’s been almost a hundred years since Prohibition was repealed.

A lot of plans that might work to reduce poverty, improve schools, etc. in a non-mob-controlled city just don’t work in Chicago because these plans are shanghai-ed by the mobs. The mobs need people to remain ignorant, poor, and addicted so that they can continue to control these people. The Church has a hard time breaking through this since many of the mob members sit in the pews and give the Church money, and the Church can’t reject their Confessions and excommunicate them.

It’s a very bad situation around here. The cities like ours that are close to Chicago suffer, too, as does the entire State. Illinois is a mess.

It might be better to study a city/state where mobs are not a major influence. I think it will take some great saints to fix Chicago.
 
So are you saying that the archdiocese of Chicago has strong ties to the mob? Formally or just informally? Do the newer crop of leftist organizations have mob ties? I wouldn’t think so, but I really don’t know. Anyone know more about this?
 
Dogma, I actually stopped at “this will require alternative economic structures”. Really? Like communism? Socialism? Or, do they mean to foster voluntary co-ops? I don’t think the teachings of Jesus “require” any particular economic structure or evidence a particular preference. When I see the USCCB support PICO and the like, that tells me the USCCB is taking a side and not necessarily one with which I agree. I’ll donate to individual causes.
 
When I was studying theology we talked about “social sin”. It is the concept that our collectives choices to sin can become larger than just ourselves but embedded in our social structures. An example might be biased software used by a bank which automatically rejected people for a mortgage because of where they lived and not on their credit scores. There was an assumption that people who lived in a certain place would be a poor credit risk without collecting all the evidence due to the bias of those creating the software.

As Christians we can’t always assume that the structures that we are part of are neutral. We need to be aware that our sin can become manifest in the organizations we create. Nothing is perfect and we are all doing the best we can but sometimes unwittingly we can be part of structures and organizations that reflect our sin as a society. For example, many Catholics on here will consider Planned Parenthood an organization which is sinful in nature, fact and action.
 
joyfulandactive said:
When I was studying theology we talked about “social sin”. It is the concept that our collectives choices to sin can become larger than just ourselves but embedded in our social structures. An example might be biased software used by a bank which automatically rejected people for a mortgage because of where they lived and not on their credit scores. There was an assumption that people who lived in a certain place would be a poor credit risk without collecting all the evidence due to the bias of those creating the software.
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May I ask where you studied that in theology? Wouldn’t that be a “corporate sin”? How is that a larger “social sin” that needs to be addressed by the US Conference of Catholic bishops? It sounds like the bishops are saying that capitalism itself is a “social sin”.
What alternative economic structures would the US bishops like to see? If you have studied this in an academic setting I would love to hear an answer.
As Christians we can’t always assume that the structures that we are part of are neutral. We need to be aware that our sin can become manifest in the organizations we create. Nothing is perfect and we are all doing the best we can but sometimes unwittingly we can be part of structures and organizations that reflect our sin as a society. For example, many Catholics on here will consider Planned Parenthood an organization which is sinful in nature, fact and action.
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Yes, and it is an individual organization, although it is entangled with tax / government / Democratic Party monies. When the USCCB supports an initiative like “Justice for Immigrants” the funding has to be co-mingled with leftist causes and democratic party $$. Is that a social sin on the part of the USCCB?
http://www.usccb.org/about/migration-policy/justice-for-immigrants.cfm
 
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The CCHD has not claimed, as far as I have read, that they only grant funds to religious organizations.
 
CRS comes in when there is a crisis and provides relief. They do not ask the politics or the religion of the persons who need assistance, they simply help meet the basic human needs. St Vincent de Paul societies do the same thing, they assist regardless of party ties or denominational affiliations.
 
It’s funny how we ALL are quick to make objections. I wonder how many holy people are on this website. I’m not one of them. But if there where one hundred Padre Pios or St.theresas of luxei, it josemaria s, or max kolbees, I wonder how many of there observations would we recognize as legitimate? I think if maybe we admit each othere’s insights as legitimate we’d be closer to the truth on these issues!
 
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You don’t think American Catholics should be aware of what the bishops are doing?
 
Heresies are handled by the Vatican, not the laity. So yes, speculation about wayward bishops in a laity-dominated Internet forum is gossip.

Also, there’s not much to “expose” here because it’s already exposed. In public. On a website. We’re already aware of what our bishops are doing. And where they bear some Magisterial authority, their stance on poverty deserves to be taken seriously.

So if you’re worried that the Vatican is somehow unaware of this webpage and would be flabbergasted to see it, by all means notify them.
 
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No, I am thinking that regular Catholics in the pews might be surprised to realize the extent to which the USCCB is supporting leftist views and causes.
 
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Ender said:
And this is exactly the problem. There is no question that the CCHD gives money and support to worthwhile groups. What is at issue is that they also give money to support organizations that do not deserve it, and that in fact support causes that are antithetical to the church’s teaching. This is what the objections to the CCHD are all about, and if the bishops cannot effectively control where the donations go then I at least will direct my donations where they can be assured of going to organizations I actually support.
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Exactly, well said! The problems you point out with CCHD echoes those of Catholic Relief Services. I refuse to make donations to them as well. Here’s what the Lepanto Institute reports about them;

https://www.lepantoinstitute.org/crs-testamony-to-congress-2019/
 
TheLittleLady said:
The CCHD has not claimed, as far as I have read, that they only grant funds to religious organizations.
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Well, they ought to disclose that before the bishops and priests ask for donations to this group from Catholics sitting in the pews in church!
“Oh, by the way, we’re taking up a collection for leftist political causes, many of which include democratic candidates and causes.”
 
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