Cooperation with evil

Remember when Bishop Roger P. Morin of Biloxi, Miss called numerous concerns about CCHD “outrageous claims” and he said CCHD does “not ever grant funds to any group that is specifically involved in any activity contrary to church teaching” and furthermore, it has “zero tolerance” for groups that receive funds and then become involved in “any activity contrary to the church’s social or moral teaching.”

Well guess what? Outside groups continue to do the work that the USCCB should have done in the first place in looking at groups that receive money from CCHD. It continues to be obvious that those involved in CCHD at the USCCB have not done their due diligence in making sure groups receiving money were not problematic. It took me very little research to find groups that were still receiving money from the USCCB involved in providing contraception. The websites of CCHD supported organizations are not exactly secret.

Rob Gaspar at Bellarmine Veritas Ministry has dug more deeply into the CCHD relationship to the Center for Community Change (CCC).

In “Sleeping with the Enemy,” Michael Hichborn at the American Life League has also uncovered more disturbing facts about CCC. Hichborn also chronicles the personal involvement of the USCCB’s John Carr, Executive Director of Justice, Peace, and Human Development. Carr oversees the CCHD.

OSV has a response:

In response to my questions, Mercy Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of the U.S. bishops’ media relations office has:

1. CONFIRMED the American Life League’s assertion that the bishop’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development gave $150,000 to CCC in 2001. But it CLARIFIED that during the time he served on the CCC board, his office at the bishops’ conference did not then have jurisdiction over CCHD (contrary to American Life League’s claim about conflict of interest). And it says CCC has not received any funding since.

2. CLARIFIED that Carr left the CCC board in 2005 (American Life League said 2006). It said his previous work for CCC was “a few months” after leaving the Carter administration, which ended in 1981. He was part of a group trying to work with block grants. “He then went to work for the Archdiocese of Washington as Cardinal Hickey’s secretary for social concerns.”

3. NOTED that the pro-abortion and pro-gay-rights “activities highlighted in ALL e-mail campaign took place long after” Carr left the CCC board.

So it looks like the conflict of interest charges are false. But much more important is that enter for Community Change is still being promoted on the USCCB site and CCC partners are still receiving money. There can be little doubt that these groups supported providing abortion in the health care plan and there is also a lot of support for the radical LGBT agenda.

It is sad that so-called social justice groups serve one small aspect of social justice while promoting intrinsic evils in the guise of social justice. That people working at the USCCB have supported these groups is much worse. This is formal material cooperation with evil. The issue about Carr is just a side-line and not what is really important in this story.