By Michael Hichborn
Earlier this week, the Lepanto Institute revealed that the president of the World Meeting of Families had donated thousands of dollars to political candidates that thoroughly support abortion and same-sex “marriage. He even donated $1,000 to a candidate who founded a Planned Parenthood facility in Philadelphia, and served as its executive director for 13 years.
Even after repeated attempts to speak with Ken Gavin, the Archdiocesan Communications Director, through the phone and by e-mail about this matter, the archdiocese chose to ignore these attempts and then issue the following statement:
The Lepanto Institute has proven once again that it is not interested in presenting information in any useful way. Neither the World Meeting of Families—Philadelphia 2015 nor any of its leadership supports Planned Parenthood. Lepanto’s sole intention is to create division, confusion, and conflict within the Church. Actions of that nature run contrary to Christian tradition. Their reports are not to be taken seriously.
It is important to note that all of the information the Lepanto Institute published regarding Robert Ciaruffoli and all of the information contained in this report was e-mailed to Ken Gavin, with the express request for clarification or correction if any of the information was false. The e-mail sent to Gavin, and then re-sent to Gavin a few days later said the following:
Ken,
I wanted to alert you and Archbishop Chaput to some new information I have obtained regarding the leadership team of the World Meeting of Families. Given our last correspondence, I wanted to make sure to send the information to you and the Archbishop before publishing my findings, which I plan to do next week. Of course, if you have any comments on the information I am providing, I will be happy to incorporate them into my article. Given that Archbishop Chaput has forbidden LGBT activist organizations to use Church grounds during the World Meeting of Families, I would imagine that if he was aware of the backgrounds of these individuals, he would equally have not allowed them to obtain leadership positions for the event.
(fully detailed information contained in both this article and the one on Ciaruffoli were provided here, before the closing line …)
Please let me know if any of my information is mistaken. I have already put in a set of questions to Mr. Ciaruffoli. And as I said, I am happy to make any corrections and include any comments from the Archdiocese regarding this information. My deadline is 5:00 PM, Monday, August 24.
God bless,
Michael
Due to a lack of response, the deadline was moved to 1:00PM the following day in order to allow for the possibility of discussing this matter by phone. Gavin did not return either phone message left for him that morning.
Since the Communications department for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has decided to continue to ignore the information provided by the Lepanto Institute and instead chose to slander our intentions, we have no choice but to publish the rest of our findings.
After receiving a tip about the president of the World Meeting of Families, the Lepanto Institute investigated members of the Executive Cabinet, finding that several of them have worked very hard against Catholic moral teaching on matters pertaining to life and marriage. Several members of the leadership team, including honorary co-chairs, co-chairs of the leadership cabinet and cabinet members either promote abortion and homosexuality themselves, or they are presidents and CEOs of companies that do.
While it may be understandable that such a large event would require planners to work with individuals who attack the Church, that doesn’t mean they should be given honorary titles or places of prominence in the event itself. For example, while the annual March for Life in Washington, DC certainly requires a lot of planning, coordination and permissions from local officials, the pro-abortion mayor of Washington, DC’s name has never appeared on any March for Life literature.
Even the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has an official policy regarding the provision of awards, honors, and platforms for individuals who actively and openly defy Catholic moral teaching. The policy is: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
Considering the positions taken by the following individuals listed as members of the leadership of the World Meeting of Families, either by themselves or as leaders of their companies, the World Meeting of Families should strongly consider removing their names from the website and published materials. All of this information was sent to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, but no response from the Archdiocese was provided by press time.
Honorary Co-Chairs:
Tom Wolf
· Is reported to be “the first governor in the history of the country who was also a former Planned Parenthood clinic escort.”
· Wolf appointed a Planned Parenthood executive to his transition team.
· Wolf’s nominee for Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro Cortes is responsible for the failure to take swift action against the notorious abortionist, Kermit Gosnell.
· Wolf is an active supporter and promoter of same-sex “marriage.”
· Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards gave a 2-minute video plug for Tom Wolf as he ran for governor.
Michael Nutter
· Following the trials of Kermit Gosnell, Nutter touted the “safe” abortions women had access to in Philadelphia.
· In 2011, Nutter launched a massive campaign to distribute condoms to teenagers.
· In January of 2015, Nutter himself conducted a same-sex “marriage” of two Israeli diplomats.
Executive Leadership Cabinet Co-Chairs
David L. Cohen
· Raised $1.2 million for Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.
· Is planning to host a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton.
· Is on the advisory board of the racist, pro-abortion, pro-same-sex ‘marriage’, National Council of La Raza.
· In 2011, put LGBT activist Mark Segal on the Join Diversity Council for Comcast, telling him, “Mark, you of all people in the LGBT community should appreciate this opportunity to create change in the media.”
· In 2013, Cohen did a video interview with Mark Segal on the LGBT diversity project, singing the praises of homosexuality
Brian L. Roberts
· Works with Cohen, and is also a promoter and in a leadership position of the Joint Diversity Council of Comcast.
· More on Roberts and the Joint Diversity Council
· With Brian L. Roberts’ support, Comcast “offers special multicultural programming collections that inform and entertain, both On Demand and Online. These collections include … LGBT Pride Month.”
· As CEO of Comcast, Roberts is responsible for Comcast contributions to the racist, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual National Council of La Raza, the pro-abortion Center for American Progress, and the pro-abortion Girls Inc.
Executive Leadership Cabinet Members
Denise Morrison
· She is the President and CEO of Campbell’s Soup.
· To show the connection, here is an article on Campbell’s Soup’s website about volunteering at the 2015 World Meeting of Families.
· In 2009, Campbell’s Soup ran ads depicting homosexual “families.“
· In 2011, Campbell’s Soup was listed as a supporter of Planned Parenthood.
· In 2014, Campbell’s Soup was listed as one of the “best places to work for LGBT equality.”
· In 2012, Campbell’s Soup sponsored a homosexual event in Philadelphia.
Eric Foss
· President and CEO of Armark since 2012, and soon-to-be chairman of the board as well:
· In 2014, Armark earned 100% on the Human Rights Campaign’s LGBT workplace equality scorecard.
· Armark received similar marks in 2013.
· Armark was one of the 379 companies signing an Amicus Brief asking the Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex “marriage.”
At a time when advocates for abortion, contraception, same-sex “marriage” and all manner of evil are pressing their attack against the Catholic Church and the very nature of TRUE families, such advocates should not be given any honorary positions or positions of leadership in any capacity at a Catholic event; especially one focused on upholding the very things that these individuals and their corporations are seeking to destroy. The book of Wisdom speaks well to this very situation:
Never trust your enemies,
for their wickedness is like corrosion in bronze.
Even though they act deferentially and peaceably toward you,
take care to be on your guard against them.
Treat them as those who reveal secrets,
and be certain that in the end there will still be envy.
Do not let them stand near you,
lest they push you aside and take your place.
Do not let them sit at your right hand,
or they will demand your seat,
And in the end you will appreciate my advice,
when you groan with regret, as I warned.
Who pities a snake charmer when he is bitten,
or anyone who goes near a wild beast? (Sirach 12:10-13)
Contact information for Word Meeting of Families
E-mail – info@worldmeeting2015.org
Phone – 855-WMF-2015
Michael Hichborn is the president of the Lepanto Institute. Formerly, Michael served American Life League for nearly eight years as the director of Defend the Faith, host of the American Life League Report, and media director.
This article was reprinted with permission and can be found at http://www.lepantoinstitute.org/executive-members-of-world-meeting-of-families-promote-abortion-same-sex-marriage/.