Fighting about fighting poverty
Conservative Roman Catholics don't like the methods of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), one of the Roman Catholic Church's premier anti-poverty efforts.
Bishops Play Defense On Anti-Poverty Initiative
From the Huffington Post and Religious News Service
For four decades, the U.S. Catholic bishops have maintained a nationwide program designed to help the poor lift themselves out of poverty. And for just as long, fierce critics have tried to kill it.Proponents of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) say it exemplifies Jesus' preference for the poor and downtrodden; opponents, including several bishops, say it funds left-wing activists, some of whom undermine church doctrine on homosexuality and abortion.
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As the U.S. bishops' flagship anti-poverty program, the CCHD is funded through a special collection taken up each year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Since 1970, the program has disbursed $290 million in grants, according to CCHD officials.
But the program's practices and guiding philosophy have been sharply attacked by conservatives armed with Internet-enhanced research, a sharp nose for malfeasance, and a deep apprehension for anything that sniffs of socialism.
From 1976-1982 I worked with disabled textile workers and workers seeking to exercise their rights to organize and bargain collectively. I was in South Carolina, but we had organized groups from Virginia to Georgia.
The CCHD was a generous funder of these organizations and I wrote and had funded more than one organizing grant through them.
This current pogrom is just the Roman Catholic version of the IRD which you have been covering elsewhere. And sadly, in my estimation, it is part of a "moral"-totalitarian movement among conservative Christians of all denominations.
I am appreciative of all the Roman Catholic Bishops who support our programs and those of thousands of other small poor people's groups all over the country. I am saddened beyond words that their heritage is being besmirched by the Ratzingerites.
Posted by Michael Russell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 10, 2010 5:51 PM
Although it is certainly anachronistic to describe Jesus and the early Church as socialist in the sense of any of the great 19th century movements, the Gospel more than sniffs of socialism. See, e.g., the Magnificat and Acts chapter 4:
Posted by Bill Carroll![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 11, 2010 4:46 AM