BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – A lay, pro-life Catholic organization has called on the U.S. Catholic Bishops to disband the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). "For years, Catholics have supported -- unwittingly -- left-wing pro-abortion causes when they donate to the annual CCHD collection," said Kathleen Sullivan, Chairman of Laity for Life, Inc. "It is outrageous that millions of hard-earned Catholic dollars have been funneled from CCHD into ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and other radical causes."

Laity for Life, Inc. has submitted a resolution to Bishop Roger P. Morin, Chairman of the CCHD Subcommittee of the Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), to dissolve the Catholic Campaign for Human Development at the Bishops' meeting this week in Baltimore. The resolution has also been submitted to other key bishops who are attending the conference.

“ACORN received $1,037,000 in 37 grants in 2007 from CCHD, and $7.3 million over the past 10 years,” explained Kathleen Sullivan, Chairman of the Board of Laity for Life based in Naples, Florida. “Ralph McCloud, the Executive Director of CCHD, has admitted that some funds donated by the Catholic campaign went into voter registration drives in “swing states” during this 2008 election. Many of these are currently being investigated by the FBI. This is an outrage.”

The link between ACORN and the Obama campaign has been widely reported in the media. An October 26, 2008, article in The National Catholic Register, “ACORN’s Collection Plate Money” describes how the Catholic Campaign for Human Development “aggressively funded ACORN as it undertook new voter registrations — mostly in states that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama needs to win.” See http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/16313.

“The CCHD has ‘suspended’ but not cancelled the grants to ACORN in light of the $1 million dollars embezzled by ACORN’s founder, Wade Rathke. But this is not good enough. It has long been known that funds donated in this annual national collection in Catholic parish churches on the Sunday before Thanksgiving have gone to projects and activities not in concert with the teachings of the Catholic Church, “ Mrs. Sullivan said. “It’s high time that CCHD bit the dust.”

Laity for Life’s proposed resolution states that “From its earliest years of funding Marxist-organizer Saul Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development has been embroiled repeatedly in public controversy resulting from its funding highly politicized left-wing organizations and activities, many of which have operated in blatant contradiction to Catholic doctrine and teaching.” 

The proposed resolution says that the ACORN controversy “has necessitated further expenditure of already strained USCCB time and resources for ‘forensic accountants’ and other investigative efforts.” 

In addition, it discusses the fruitless repeated efforts over the years by bishops to reform the funding policies of the CCHD to bring them in line with Catholic teaching and doctrine.

In light of the fact that the CCHD not only is not in conformity with Catholic principles and doctrines but instead embroiled in controversy over its funding of left-wing causes and campaigns, the proposed resolution states: “BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is hereby dissolved, effective immediately,” and that there be “the immediate withdrawal of all outstanding CCHD funding commitments.” 

“We hope that Bishop Morin and all the prelates attending the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting will quickly act to abolish the CCHD,” Mrs. Sullivan concluded.

An electronic press kit with the proposed resolution and more information is available. See the Laity for Life website at www.LaityForLife.org, e-mail Laity for Life at info@LaityForLife.org or contact Kathleen Sullivan at 239-417-9436.

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