In most US dioceses, the second collection at this weekend's Masses will go towards the Catholic Relief Services. This includes Baltimore and Washington DC. This blog, the Lepanto Institute, and other faithful Catholic sites have cited numerous reasons over the years how this outfit, along with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Catholic Charities and others have funneled millions of dollars towards progressive organizations that spread both spiritual and physical death and destruction. And no, they didn't just naively give over the cash. They were founded with the express purpose of undermining Holy Mother Church.
Below is a podcast from the Anchor Team expounding on the harm being done by CRS and others, as well as the history behind these cabals. Encourage your fellow Catholics not to put one red penny in that basket.
In most dioceses across the nation, the second collection at Masses on Sunday March 30 will benefit the Catholic Relief Services. Locally, both the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Archdiocese of Washington will be collecting for the CRS. The CRS is under the direct control of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
As you can see by my link, there have been multiple moral failings of the Catholic Relief Services, such as direct distributions of condoms, employing an openly "gay-married" man as a vice president, creating a "health network" in Africa that includes abortionists, etc.
Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) exposed the fact that CRS has been heavily funded by USAid. Fortunately that is now drying up. The CRS now needs to go away completely. Please do NOT give them one red cent of your money this coming weekend.
In his most recent letter, Archbishop Vigano made mention of the "deep church" to describe elements in the Church hierarchy that are obviously colluding with the "deep state" in the United States and most likely in other countries. Both are under common control, most likely masonic. Happily for faithful Catholics and other good people, both of the "deeps" are feeling the pangs of funds being dried up, the funding being stopped by President Trump.
In my previous post, I voiced the hope that the end might soon be drawing near for the Catholic Relief Services. Comes now the happy news that, owing to the drastic reduction of funding for USAID, they in turn cut their funding to the CRS. Over the years, I and others have noted that CRS has been directly involved in the distribution of contraceptives, some of them abortifacients. A former vice president of theirs was in a same-sex marriage while an employee of CRS. We could go on and on.
Due to their loss of the USAID funding, CRS has laid off about 50% of their work force. I truly hope that their time on this earth is drawing to a close. I attend Latin Mass in Baltimore, and I drive by their national office every week. They are in the old Stewart's building at the intersection of Howard and Lexington. I hope soon to see that they have vacated that location and vanished in the dung heap of sordid history.
Clearly these people are not to be trusted with one penny of your money. Tomorrow, when that collection basket comes about, drop a note in it (maybe even put that note in your CRS envelope) detailing exactly why you won't be contributing. Then give that donation to a truly worthwhile charity. Again, we can thank Michael Hichborn for researching many charities and determining which ones would use your donation dollars properly.
That question came to mind when I saw this post from Religion Clause. Here is the court decision to which they refer. When I first saw this, I thought that "John Doe" was probably Rick Estridge. Several of us bloggers wrote on this when we learned that this "same-sex-married" guy was employed by CRS as a Vice President. But that was back in 2015. Estridge resigned from CRS after he was exposed and has since taken employment elsewhere.
Therefore I think it most probable that "John Doe" is yet another gay who was obviously known as such by CRS leadership and directors from the first day of his employment. These individuals are thumbing their noses at Church teachings regarding marriage, sexuality and homosexual conduct. Yet they get hired by CRS. Just how many are there?
More to the point, why does CRS continue to exist? Why do our parishes still hold in-pew collections, as though we should support those living in mortal sin?
Yesterday Michael Hichborn released another segment of his report that proves that Catholic Relief Services is promoting abortion in third-world countries. Here it is.
In the midst of the calamity of the United States being without one public Mass, even then there is just the tiniest silver lining to the cloud. Without Mass, there can be no second collections. This weekend, for most dioceses, the second collection would have been taken for the Catholic Relief Services. That will not happen. That means that CRS will have fewer dollars with which to undermine the Faith.
Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute unearthed some truly squalid enterprises in which CRS has participated and even led. Below I publish the second and third of the videos comprising his entire report.
Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute has recently completed a month-long investigation of the malfeasances of the Catholic Relief Services. The resulting report is quite long, owing to the voluminous evidence found that quite frankly, incriminates CRS and the entire USCCB for actions committed agaisnt Catholic faith and morality. Because his findings were so extensive, Hichborn has opted to release his reports in installments.
Today he released the first one and it can be found here. This one focuses on CRS's involvement in the distribution of condoms in Africa. Mind you, CRS isn't merely partnering with other organizations that are doing the condom distribution. CRS is doing the deed themselves - funded by donations from faithful Catholics. That leads me to my next point.
Lent has just started and we have all seen the obiquitous "Operation Rice Bowl" things in our church lobbies. A few days ago, I suggested what you could do with them. You can do the same when CRS conducts its in-pew collection in mid-May. The precsie weekend is May 17. I believe the schedule for this collection is nation-wide, but check your envelopes. Let's not only starve this beast, but let the "powers-that-be" know exactly why they won't get one penny from us.
Having been at the Mount picket yesterday and then focused on the video and blog post (to be published very soon), I was not paying attention to the second collection schedule. I should have, for I know full well that the Catholic Relief Services second collection occurs in May.
I was immediately alerted to that when, during the announcements right after the Creed, it was announced that the second collection would be "for the benefit of the Catholic Relief Fund". I realized immediately that this name-change was an attempt to obfuscate the name "Catholic Relief Services", much like the name "Catholic Communications and Human Development" is intended to mask the real intent of that collection, that to fund the CCHD.
Immediately I got out pen and paper and jotted a note, saying that I will not contribute to CRS as long as they participate in the distribution of contraceptives and signed my name. I dropped that in the second collection basket. As the collection was taken, we were thanked for our support of the "Catholic Relief Fund". So again that bogus name was used.
After Mass, I checked the Archdiocesan website, and sure enough, today is the day on which the second collection is for the Catholic Relief Services.
I went into the lobby and noticed the CRS envelopes next to the song booklets. I asked Father about that strange wording and he replied that was what was written in his notes. I've no doubt about that and he was merely announcing what he had been told to announce via the notes. The question remains is, who dictated the contents of those notes? While it's true that we do have some Spanish-speaking people in the parish offices, I cannot see how any confusion between "fund" and "services" could have occurred in any translation. In Spanish, fund is "el fondo" and service is "el servicio". That translation would be impossible to confuse.
So... Who ordered that change from "services" to "fund", and why????
Last week William O'Keefe, a CRS vice president, asked Congress to fund USAID to the tune of nearly $9 billion. They intend that it goes to PEPFAR and other agencies that distribute contraceptives. Lepanto Institute discovered this and did much research. There is no need to rehash the report here for I won't do it justice. I urge you to read it on the Lepanto page. Do note, though, that O'Keefe was a Clinton supporter.
During Lent, we have probably seen the ubiquitous CRS "rice bowls". Michael Hichborn, president of Lepanto, noted that 2/3 of CRS's budget comes from federal grants. Well, golly gee! Why aren't People for the American Way and the Freedom from Religion Foundation all up in arms about federal funding of the CRS? Could it be because they know that CRS has been run by progressives now for many years? He suggested that in lieu of money, to write a note that says we already contributed via our tax dollars. Drop that in your "rice bowl" and take it to church when they collect these things.
Here's more info on CRS. Just #sayno2crs. By the way, in my title I used the words "to date" for I wouldn't be surprised if another CRS scandal comes to light in the future that will eclipse the depravity of this one.
The title of this post should be the title of this flyer to the right, for that is what we are being asked to do. This was enclosed in our parish bulletin today. Because there was no second collection today I realized this in-pew shake-down will happen in the near future. Sure enough, here is the second collection schedule for the Archdiocese of Washington, showing it scheduled for May 13, two weeks from today.
Lepanto Institute, led by Michael Hichborn, has done much research into Catholic Relief Services. Much of that research has been featured in previous posts in this blog on CRS (as well as additional research). Among the many insults to Catholic faith and moral teaching committed by the CRS, we find the following:
the employment of flagrant sodomites in executive positions
the distribution of condoms and abortifacients by CRS staff
the funding and cooperation with other international organizations for the distribution of contraceptives, often against the wishes of local authorities.
Read that flyer very carefully. Notice how most of the language centers around the theme of immigration. Is that because there is really all that much compassion for the immigrant - or might there be other rea$onS? Yes, I used dollar signs deliberately, for the CRS gets quite a bit from the feds to settle immigrants, regardless of legal status. I link now to an article written by Deal Hudson on how CRS and other Catholic organizations have sold their souls for federal dollars. Hudson brings out a good point by stating that those who contribute to CRS give to anti-Catholic outfits twice: once via federal income taxes and again through the donation.
Catholic Relief Services continue to prove why the "CRS" might well stand for "Catholics Riddled with Scandals". They deserve not one red cent of the money of decent Catholics. Please boycott this collection. Say #no2crs. This Lepanto article has a form at the bottom that you can put in your CRS collection on May 13. Readers in other areas should check their second collection schedules as they may vary from place to place. As the collection time draws near, I will be posting reminders. Please pass this along to your email lists and other social media outlets. Thank you.
P.S. - Please check your envelopes. If your envelope gives a different date, please advise via comments. Thank you.
The Lepanto Institute and other Catholic investigators have been shining the light on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development for years. Since its inception the CCHD has been bilking donations from unsuspecting Catholics and diverting those funds to organizations that are pro-abortion, pro-sodomite, anti-God, anti-morality. Just put "CCHD" into the search box at the top left of this blog for an entire litany of their misbehaviors.
But it turns out that such anti-life funding isn't all that the CCHD has done with donation dollars. Some readers might be inclined to wonder, "What? You mean they actually do some scintilla of good with our donations?" Oh, don't be silly! It turns out that some of their funds are earmarked for bribery.
That's what Lepanto Institute revealed last week. The CCHD offered them hush money; that is, if Lepanto scuttled its reporting on CCHD, why, CCHD just might give Lepanto a "grant"! How special!
Hichborn turned them down. But doesn't it make you wonder how many other bribe recipients didn't turn down some easy cash? How many bishops or other grant recipients looked the other way as their palms were greased? While we don't know the answer to that yet, we can be fairly certain that the number isn't zero.
Speaking of Lepanto and USCCB-controlled cash spigots, let's look at what they revealed about Catholic Relief Services and their attempt to mangle the season of Advent to make it a tool in shilling for illegal immigration. Not only do they make a travesty of Advent, but they publicly wallow in their gross ignorance of Scripture and the Infancy Narratives. You'll notice in that box that O'Keefe makes the ludicrous claim that the Holy Family "fled" to Bethlehem. No, they were compelled to go there to be counted for census and taxing purposes; the Gospel of Luke states that quite explicitly. But it sounds so "pastoral" to create this dishonest linkage with illegal immigration. Now think about it; if the only way they can justify their enabling of those who violate our laws is to lie about the Scriptures, doesn't that indicate that they have no moral/intellectual basis for their positions?
These are just two more reasons why the CRS, CCHD and anything affiliated with the USCCB should not receive one penny from faithful Catholics. More reasons will make themselves apparent in the next several months, I'm sure.
Recently Michael Hichborn of Lepanto Institute gave a talk regarding the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and of the monkey business that comprises their entire purpose for existence. I'll post it below, but will also link to previous posts of mine in which the content coincides with Hichborn's statements. When we reach the 20:00 mark in the video, Hichborn talks about immigration. So consider:
The role of Catholic Charities in fomenting illegal immigration - see here and here
At the 38:15 mark, consider what Hichborn says about Ralph McCloud being both the director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and a board member of Interfaith Worker Justice. Until now, I did not know that this huge conflict of interest existed.
At the 44:48 mark, Hichborn states that "there is no salvaging the CCHD. The only thing that can be done with it at this point is to shut it down permanently." I've been saying that for years. In fact, I've been saying that about the entire USCCB.
Bear in mind the very ending: an exhortation to pray the Rosary daily and maintain testimony to the truth. Please pass this along to your other contacts.
Yesterday the US Senate voted to pass H.J. Resolution 43, undoing Obama's executive order that forced states to fund Planned Parenthood. It was a split vote, with the Vice President breaking the tie. Last month it passed the House by a 230-188 vote split. It now heads to President Trump's desk. This bill does not cut Planned Parenthood funding in and of itself; rather, it allows states to do so. A number of them have already passed such defunding measures.
A little "aside" for my #nevertrump friends. You do realize that if you had your way, states would still be forced to fund Planned Parenthood, don't you? Deep down in your hearts, aren't you glad you didn't have your way? Let this be a lesson to you. As additional examples arise, I will be pointing these out to you!
Getting back to the main point of this post, state governments now take back control of their Title X funds and they now have the option of denying funding to the largest baby-killing racket in the nation, if not the world. I hope many states seize that opportunity. Alas, other states are infested with anti-life liberals and progressives. My home state of Maryland is one of them. I wrote last Saturday of the effort underway by pro-baby-murder politicians to fund Planned Parenthood. In that piece I also wrote of the de facto cooperation with these progressives that the Maryland Catholic Conference intends to give them. I speculated as to the cause(s) of the MCC's despicable stance, wondering if funding for some of their pet "social justice" goals hung in the balance. The video released by Michael Hichborn now causes me to fear that the reasons for MCC's lack of actions may be even more perfidious.
Deal Hudson had an article published today in Newsmax entitled "Catholic Bishops Caught In Conflict Of Interest Over Immigration". In the fifth paragraph down, we see that Catholic Relief Services received over $400 million from the Obama administration in 2016. In Obama's first year, he increased CRS funding by over $120 million. Hudson also mentioned that Planned Parenthood received approximately the same amount from the feds; he mentions it as a coincidence but maybe it's more than a mere coincidence.
So what does Catholic Relief Services have to do with Maryland Catholic Conference? Well, they're both headquartered in Maryland. CRS is directly controlled by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the MCC takes many leads from the USCCB. Six years ago, the USCCB did lobby for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. This month it was utterly silent regarding H.J. Resolution 43. Why the change?
The video below is that of Michael Hichborn giving a talk at the "Bringing America Back To Life" summit held in Cleveland earlier this month. The title of his talk is "Catholic Charities And The Culture Of Death". He details how Catholic "social justice" groups (under control by the US hierarchy) have compromised their missions to the point of participating actively in the Culture of Death. He focuses heavily on Catholic Relief Services. Pay very close attention to the 15:55 mark, when he reveals how CRS actually partnered with Planned Parenthood. Just how close have the tentacles of Planned Parenthood gotten into the inner sanctums of the US Catholic establishment? Can this be some explanation of the inaction of both the USCCB and MCC regarding the various battles over Planned Parenthood funding? To my readers: what, if anything, have your state Catholic Conferences been doing about your states' funding of Planned Parenthood? Please advise via the comments box.
If you have one of those lenten rice bowl things and have been dropping change into it, please empty it and give that money to an organization that is fighting for the Culture of Life.
Last month the Catholic Relief Services, ever on the cutting edge of crusading for true justice and charity (Stop that snickering right now! Shame-shame!), issued a clarion call to the Trump administration to address what it holds to be the most crucial issue of the day. Is it the murder of babies in the womb? Is it the ever-encroaching demands that flagrant gays are making on Christians to celebrate their perversions? Oh, wait - CRS itself has been caught harboring gays. None of these. They are clamoring for an end to -climate change!
The CRS, with the USCCB, sent to President Trump a letter to that effect. They said, "Sadly, environmental issues can be politicized for partisan agendas and used in public discourse to serve different economic, social, political and ideological interests." They should know for they are the experts in doing precisely that at the bidding of their puppet-masters and sugar-daddies.
With the Catholic Climate Covenant, they are lobbying for support of the Green Climate Fund and Paris agreements, both of which really promise to be huge drains on cash as they further empower the United Nations. I for one note with pleasure that the President plans to remove us from the Paris agreements and to curtail funding of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Some might remember the Catholic Climate Covenant as promoting a progressive stunt called the Lenten Carbon Fast. I can no longer find their version of the "carbon fast calendar" online, but other similar calendars exist that feature the same nonsense as did the CCC version.
This gem from the Global Catholic Climate Movement urges us (see March 19) to "let our dishwashers breathe". Ladies and gentlemen, if you notice your dishwashers breathing, might I suggest that you call an exorcist? What these envirowhackos do not consider that it is that "energy-intensive drying cycle" that sterilizes the dishes, helping to prevent the spread of germs.
Some Catholic envirowhackos from Austrilia have their own calendar, one that has particular focus on their locality. On March 23rd they suggest the consumption of kangaroo meat as opposed to beef or lamb because, well,..methane! Need we go into detail? Bad little cattle! Bad little sheep! Killing the planet via flatulence!
So that is one way that the Catholic Relief Services is squandering the donation dollars of faithful Catholics. Pleading with their higher-ups has proven to be an exercise in futility. The only language they seem to understand is that of "$ ka-ching $". It is our silence with regard to that language that they need to experience.
Speaking of "donation dollars", the second collection for the Archdiocese of Washington during the weekend of March 25-26 will be for the CRS. That is in addition to the lenten Rice Bowl shakedown. As we are boycotting the rice bowl thing, let's boycott this as well and in the same way. I suggested what to do with the Rice Bowl two weeks ago. I'd suggest putting that same note in your envelope and dropping that in the collection basket this weekend.
Today and tomorrow mark the First Sunday of Lent 2017. This is the weekend when the ubiquitous Catholic Relief Services rice bowls will sprout like kudzu in the lobbies of most Catholic parishes in the United States. Last year many of us Catholic bloggers urged a boycott of this CRS collection. When we do so, we always hope that the offending target of the boycott will heed the message of the boycott and take corrective measures to make themselves more worthy of Catholic donations. Alas, our hopes are dashed this year as CRS has proven itself to be even more unworthy of Catholic dollars than they were last year.
So what have been the lowlights of the Catholic Relief Services since Lent of 2016?
Such are the relatively current scandals of the CRS. For some of their older scandals, see here, here, here (with some videos), here (w/more videos). You can also put "crs" or "Catholic Relief Services" in the search box at the top left to see much more material. The scandals abound.
Last year I suggested a way to do an effective boycott of the rice-bowl effort. I reiterate the suggestion below.
Pick up one of those "rice bowls" from your church lobby and assemble it.
At the bottom of the Lepanto article is a note that you can use to let CRS know why you'll not contribute.
Place that note in your now-assembled "rice bowl". I intend to sign mine, but that's optional.
When your parish announces that it's time to return the rice bowls to church, please do so. Yours will have the note and no money.
So why are the scandals so numerous? I suspect that CRS, like its cousin CCHD, was never founded to be truly conformable with the Catholic mission of saving souls. Please participate in our boycott and urge your family and friends to do the same. Feel free to post this blog post to your own sites. CRS is a beast that needs to be starved to death.
The CRS is under the direct control of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB is having its semi-annual meeting in Baltimore, starting today. Michael Hichborn, president of Lepanto, penned anopen letter to the US bishops regarding CRS's misbehaviors. Also today Archbishop Paul Coakley, USCCB Chair, asked the prelates in attendance to pay no attention to Lepanto's hours of research and the evidence pointing towards CRS's complicity with evil. His request is itself a betrayal of fear and resentment at having the dissidence of CRS, along with the USCCB, brought into light.
LifeSiteNews has details of Carolyn Woo's sniveling reaction to Lepanto's work. I don't think she realizes what she revealed when she claimed that "original sin was kind of abstract". In her time at CRS, particularly with the cover-up of the "gay-married" CRS vice president, she betrayed an abysmal lack of basic Catholic moral teaching.
As always, the only language that gets the attention of the progressives who occupy high places in the USCCB is the language of money. Thus, in addition to prayer, we must speak that language by withholding our donations. It is not time for the annual in-pew CRS collection. However, the in-pew collection for its national counterpart, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (also under direct USCCB control) is this coming weekend. I urge all to boycott that collection this coming weekend. Here are some tools to assist you in this boycott.
It appears that the Catholic Relief Services hasn't learned anything from its Rick Estridge and Tony Spence debacles. Maybe it's because they never considered these two dissidents to be problematic for their mission. Of course that might be saying something about the anti-Catholic nature of their real mission.
Lepanto Institute has unearthed yet another enabler of mortal sin within the ranks of CRS. His name is Michael Wynne, a systems analyst for CRS. All indications from his social media accounts point to him supporting same-sex #mowwidge and being in a sodomite situation himself.
CRS is under the control of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It seems that they too harbor in their ranks a gay-sympathizer named Kristyn Peck. Again, she is very up front about her coddling of mortal sin. Do notice that at the USCCB, she is "Associate Director of Children's Services". With someone like Peck at the helm of those "services" one might have reason to fear for the spiritual, mental and physical well-being of any children with whom they come in contact.
Lepanto is to be commended for unearthing these worms under the rocks at CRS and USCCB. They quoted a line "personnel is policy". They are correct, lending credibility to my own claim that USCCB should immediately be dismantled. While it may seem remarkable that Lepanto can discover these dissidents, I'm beginning to believe that Lepanto might find it more difficult to find within the ranks of CRS and USCCB anyone who embraces fully the Teachings and Traditions of the Church.
In my parish it was announced that the annual in-pew collection for CRS will occur during the weekend of May 14-15. I've blogged copiously about the many scandals in which CRS participates and in some cases initiates. A few of these include:
Catholic Relief Services is merely the international version of Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Whereas the latter is used to funnel Catholic donations to organizations that undermine the Faith in the United States, the former funds international "culture of death" organizations. Both are run by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
If any of you (particularly in the Archdiocese of Washington) received a yellow sheet in your bulletins that sounded the praises of CRS, please be advised that it is full of ... bovine manure! As the links above demonstrate, the "humanitarian aid" comes at the price of submission to sterilizations and chemical abortions.
As I did for the "operation rice bowl" shakedown during Lent, I suggest that not one penny be given to the CRS during the collection. Instead, please place in the envelope the clip-out statement that is found at the bottom of this Lepanto page. CRS is an ungodly monster that needs to be starved, not fed. Say #no2crs.
About eight days ago I posted a suggestion for faithful Catholics regarding the Operation Rice Bowl campaign conducted by the Catholic Relief Service during Lent. It is one of their biggest fundraisers; regrettably CRS has seen fit to divert millions of these dollars to organizations that distribute contraceptives and abortifacients. In some cases, CRS personnel have been caught committing the mortal sins themselves. I hope many of you are implementing that suggestion.
Today the USCCB announced that the second collection to be taken during the weekend of March 5-6, Laetare Sunday, will be for CRS. That will be the case in most parishes. For the Archdiocese of Washington, the CRS collection will occur during the weekend of May 14-15. Please check your local calendars to ascertain when that collection will be held in your parishes.
In my post regarding the CRS, I suggested putting in that "rice bowl" a flyer created by Lepanto Institute. That same flyer would do nicely for use in your CRS envelope in lieu of money.
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