Washington, D.C. (05 November 2010) – As part of the Reform CCHD Now coalition, American Life League joins its coalition members in the following statement:
The Reform CCHD Now (RCN) coalition (www.reformcchdnow.com) has released a report detailing multiple problems with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), the first grantee featured in a document intended to outline the review and renewal of the controversial Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).
“The very idea that the CCHD would praise CIW in a document that apologizes for funding pro-abortion, pro-homosexual organizations in the past, and promises to make a stronger effort to avoid doing so in the future, seriously undermines their credibility,” said Michael Hichborn, lead researcher for RCN member American Life League. “How is anyone to believe that CCHD can make good on its promises if it can’t even get it right from the beginning?”
RCN’s report outlines in specific detail how CIW participated in the US Social Forum 2010 –something the RCN reported on back in June. The US Social Forum ran a collection of workshops, many of which were devoted to abortion rights, homosexual rights, and Marxist Socialism. RCN’s report also specifies three of CIW’s coalition and network partnerships that are in and of themselves pro-abortion and pro-homosexual, and whose mission is to encourage cross-issues advocacy of their members. The report can be found on the Reform CCHD Now web site here: http://www.reformcchdnow.com/report_11_4_10_renewal.pdf.
“The CIW’s participation with these groups directly violates the CCHD Renewal document’s restriction on participating in coalitions which have positions or actions which contradict fundamental Catholic moral and social teaching,” said Rob Gasper, founder of RCN member Bellarmine Veritas Ministry. “The CCHD’s lack of oversight even in its renewal document underscores our concern and calls for a delay in the national collection until the 2010 grants list is released.”
RCN renewed its call for complete transparency and a delay of the collection until the new grants list is released.
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Jim Sedlak at 540.659.4171.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
- Reform CCHD Now: Report on CCHD Renewal documents http://www.reformcchdnow.com/report_11_4_10_renewal.pdf
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