Washington, D.C. (01 June 2010) – The Reform CCHD Now coalition (RCN) announced today that detailed reports on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) were recently sent to each bishop and diocesan pro-life director in the U.S. These reports document problems that have yet to be addressed by the CCHD, regarding the nature and activities of many CCHD grantees.
Compiled by Michael Hichborn of American Life League (ALL) and Robert Gasper of Bellarmine Veritas Ministry (BVM), the reports show that almost 50 grantees still receiving funds from the CCHD remain involved in activities directly opposed to Catholic moral and social teachings.
“We wanted to make sure every bishop can review the facts for himself, because we still hear people saying that all of the problems with the CCHD have been fixed. But we can prove that such claims are not true,” said Hichborn, ALL’s senior researcher. “We believe that our bishops are doing the best they can with the information they have. We just want to make sure that they have the most up-to-date information as they go into their June meeting.”
RCN noted that, during the U.S. bishops’ upcoming meeting (June 11-13), the CCHD will be discussed in light of a report recently compiled by Bishop David Zubik of the Pittsburgh diocese.
“Good things have started to happen with the CCHD, and there appears to be momentum toward real reform,” said Gasper, president of BVM. “It has become clear that the problems can’t be solved merely by defunding individual groups that have been identified as opposing Church teaching. This is why we continue to respectfully call for a complete reform of the CCHD.”
“We simply ask our bishops to prayerfully review the information presented, considering how such systemic problems occurred and what the most prudent way forward is for the CCHD,” said Stephen Phelan, communications manager for RCN member Human Life International.
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 Katie Walker (ALL) at 540.659.4942 or Stephen Phelan (HLI) at 540.622.5270.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Reform CCHD Now
http://www.reformcchdnow.com/
American Life League: Full Report on CCHD
http://www.all.org/pdf/fullcchdreportfinal.pdf
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