Re: Pro-lifers dismayed by UK bishops

By Domenico Bettinelli, Jr. ( articles - email ) | Mar 09, 2005

In regard to Diogenes' entry below about the UK bishops giving the OK to participation in the annual charity event Comic Relief (also called Red Nose Day), the controversy over Catholic participation is not new. We ran a report in Catholic World Report in July 2003 on this very same matter.

Although the bishops acknowledged that the charity did support family-planning projects and that this could cause concern to Catholics, they still insisted there was no link to abortion. For Catholics who wanted to make absolutely sure that their money did not end up in the hands of the population-control lobby, a special bank account was to be set up, so that people could specify how their money was spent.

If all this sounds a bit too good to be true, then it will come as no surprise to discover that the bishops and their advisors had not done their homework properly. A closer examination of Comic Relief's records by pro-life experts told a different story.

According to the charity's own report of its grants, entitled Where the Money Went, £24,000 was handed to Population Concern between July 2000 and June 2001. Population Concern campaigns for abortion in developing countries. The organization has supported projects involving the funding of abortions in Bolivia and Nigeria. It also promotes "sexual and reproductive health"-- a phrase that invariably indicates support for legal abortion on demand. Comic Relief made a further grant of £164,000 to One World Action, which has funded workshops on abortion for women in Nicaragua. In the past, Comic Relief has also funded the world's largest abortion promoter, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), which claims to "work in over 180 countries to fight against poverty by offering sexual and reproductive health and family-planning information and services." In the 12 months leading up to June 2000, £51,953 was paid to the abortion provider Marie Stopes International for projects in Africa. Comic Relief has also handed money to homosexual organizations such as the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard.

Recall this was back in 2003. Two years later the bishops are still in denial and we're having the same arguments over and over again.