Defending Community Organizers [CCHD]

[Ahimsa]

Is the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, well, Catholic?

                                                                                     That’s the question raging in the wake of a controversy over the fact that the CCHD has given funds to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the voter-registration and poverty-fighting program that is now universally-recognizable by its acronym, ACORN. Most organizations would normally covet such branding, except that in ACORN’s case it came by way of a reported embezzlement by one of its executives and accusations that an ACORN worker tried to file false voter registrations. In the midst of a presidential campaign, that was more than enough to turn ACORN into a weapon against Barack Obama, because Obama had worked with ACORN during his community organizer days in Chicago years ago.....

In reality, the CCHD has been and remains the *Catholic *Campaign for Human Development, and CCHD officials point out that the organization does not back any initiatives that contradict church teaching—only those that help the poor move out of poverty. All grants go to projects “with objectives and actions that are fully in accord with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church,” the CCHD says. Partisan activity is prohibited, and the local bishop approves every grant.

 

[manualman]

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus of “First Things” rather strongly disagrees. Google should lead you to his recent article.

1. The CHD dropped the “catholic” part of the label some time ago.
2. The CHD does NOT fund catholic faith based ministries. It specifically targets non-catholic organizations that work with the poor. Those may be great, but WHY exclude explicitly catholic missions? Makes no sense.
3. The groups funded often have links or support agendas contrary to Church teaching. CHD defenders note that such activities aren’t the core purpose of the groups funded, but that seems a rather flimsy defense to me. (“I know they support abortion, but they DO provide food for the homeless…”) Um, how about funding a catholic based homeless assistance program instead of one allied with the Culture of Death??

Community Organizers can be good things. ACORN made some bad moves, but the concept of consolidating groups of the poor together to leverage one another’s strengths is a GOOD thing. But not when they mix in elements of the poisonous culture of death at the same time. Great coffee is no good with a touch of arsenic in it…