Should a Catholic school donate to the Red Cross?

[gloraykid]

Is it moral for a Catholic elementary school to donate to the Red Cross which, according to my research, is a major distributor of condoms worldwide? My children’s school had a fundraiser with the Red Cross as the intended recipient. I suggested Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Medical Mission Board, and Catholic Charities USA; but the principal of the school, even when confronted with the information about the Red Cross, maintained that it was not “wrong” for the school to donate to Red Cross even though it supports condom distribution (which is against Church teaching). The principal maintained that “There is nothing in our faith which requires us to donate only to ‘Catholic’ charities.”

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Without having seen your research, I cannot comment on its accuracy, but only upon the general ethics of donating to a charity that sponsors morally problematic programs.

In theory, it is not wrong to donate to such a charity so long as one does not directly give to the morally problematic program. Most charities make this possible by allowing donors to earmark their donations to programs they wish to support. So, for example, a Catholic might earmark his donation to a secular charity to support hurricane relief in the Gulf Coast rather than condom distribution in the inner cities. If your children’s school insists on donating to a charity that you believe sponsors condom distribution as one of its programs, you might ask that the school at least earmark its donation for a morally legitimate program that the charity also sponsors.

That said, a Catholic’s first obligation when making charitable contributions is to support the work of the Church. Supporting the work of the Church is one of the precepts of the Church:

The fifth precept (“You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church”) means that the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability CCC 2043].

When a Catholic charity and a non-Catholic or secular charity both provide the same services to the community, it can be argued that priority should be given to the work of the Church. Also, it could be argued that teaching Catholic kids to raise money for the charitable endeavors of the Church teaches them in a practical manner how to fulfill this precept, which will become their own responsibility as they grow older.