US bishops urge support for CCHD collection in face of diocesan boycotts

November 21, 2008

Bishop Roger Morin, Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans and chairman of the Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), urged Catholics earlier this week to participate in this weekend’s annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection. The call comes in the face of decisions by Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham and diocesan administrator Msgr. Martin Laughlin of Charleston not to take up the collection in their dioceses this year.

Earlier this month, the US bishops announced that CCHD would no longer fund projects associated with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). Complaints about past CCHD support for ACORN have called attention to the longstanding criticism of the program by conservative Catholics, who have exposed connections between CCHD and a variety of leftist activist groups.

Although the CCHD is typically portrayed as an effort to ease the sting of poverty, the program's avowed goal is to help community groups organize in order to address the root causes of poverty. In many instances this approach has led CCHD to support groups that are lobbying for new government programs and/or pressing for radical change in society.

 

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Further information:

• Catholic Bishops Support CCHD Collection as a Response to Current Economic Crisis (USCCB)
• US bishops cut off funding to ACORN (CWN, Nov. 12)
• CCHD 2007 Grantees (USCCB)
• Catholics halt collection because of ACORN donation, embezzlement (Gadsden Times)
• Diocese of Charleston Redirects CCHD Collection (IndsideCatholic.com)