Vortex On Wendy Davis / CCHD Cozy Connections

Here's an expose done by Michael Voris on the relationship between rabid pro-abort Wendy Davis of the Texas State Senate and the CCHD, vis-a-vis Ralph McCloud.  Until I saw this, I was unaware that the two had worked together in Texas politics for six years.  That being said, there can be no shadow of a doubt that McCloud was fully aware that he was supporting abortion in the person of Wendy Davis as the two worked to unseat her pro-life opponent.

In the clip, Voris makes mention of some reports on the CCHD.  I have watched these and can attest that they are worth your investment in time to learn about this "snake in the grass" known as the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

• Special Report with American Life League
• CCHD and Saul Alinsky
• Social Injustice

A note to readers of the Archdiocese of Washington:

• The archdiocesan collection for CCHD will occur during the weekend of Aug 10-11.  Please note that they have tweaked the name of the collection to read "Catholic Communications and Human Development".  Do not be deceived by this silly ploy.  This is  the CCHD collection.
• Within the next week or two, this blog will announce steps that you can take to stanch the flow of Catholic cash to this collection and thus to Culture-of-Death organizations.  Stay tuned.

And now the video..

How Can One Tell When It's CCHD Collection Time?

One answer to that question is "when the CCHD and their supporters start their preemptive screeds against faithful Catholics concerned about their left-wing leanings".  For example, David Gibson of Religion News Service starts his piece by claiming that "conservative activists are threatening the social mission of the Catholic Church... by attacking the Church's flagship anti-poverty program with 21st-century style Catholic McCarthyism."  

Of course he refers to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  Obviously Mr. Gibson is unaware that the CCHD, by policy, gives no money to organizations that directly perform the Corporal Works of Mercy.  Perhaps Mr. Gibson knows that and he doesn't give a hoot.  At any rate, CCHD has traditionally given grants - collected from Catholics during the in-pew collections - to organizations that seek to "change social structures and policies".  That quote is taken from one of their flyers.  More often than not, these organizations are socialist in nature, along the lines of Saul Alinsky.  Indeed, the CCHD was originated by Msgr Jack Egan, an associate (and disciple) of Saul Alinsky for the express purpose of syphoning Catholic resources to fund these community-organizing endeavors (Barack Obama cut his political teeth while working with the Gamaliel Foundation, one such group).  But this blog's previous posts have delved in detail into CCHD's sordid past - no need to rehash that here.

Gibson cites as his main source Faith in Public Life - you know, the progressive outfit funded by George Soros.  Here is the link to the 24-page report that snivels about the "growing threat".  If anything's a "growing threat", it's the tentacles of progressives that infest the bowels of the USCCB offices.  I count it as a high compliment to be among those they perceive as a "threat" to them siphoning Catholic money to their causes, but I digress.  

A perusal of page 2 of their report will give you quite a number of progressives and Obama supporters; many of these individuals and entities can be entered into this blog's search box for more information: Pax Christi,   Thomas Chabolla, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, Catholics United, LCWR, the disgraced Bishop Gumbleton, Stephen Schenk.  The rest of that report will need to be studied in greater detail.  

Getting back to Gibson's article, I must mention one line that is so silly as to be downright amusing.  He complains about the "well-financed network" that we are, in his third paragraph.  I think I can speak for many of my compatriots when I say that none of that "finance" has greased our palms!  On the other hand, when multi-billionaire George Soros has his paw-prints all over Faith in Public Life and its endeavors, it's not too hard to see where the cold cash really flows.

Lest anyone think that this Gibson piece is just a flash in the pan, I now link to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times by Mark Brown.  Recall that recently, a "gay marriage" bill was defeated in Illinois.  Now Brown is waxing ominous about the Church "playing hardball" with groups that supported perversion of marriage.  He's complaining that the CCHD there might cut off their funding.  Imagine that!  The Catholic Church expects those receiving Catholic money to honor Catholic principles!  Here's hoping they hold firm.  Anyway, we can see how the mainstream media is marching lockstep behind the progressives who are trying to leech money from Catholics to undermine Christian principles.

There will be more on this.  For now, I (and I'm sure my friends) take it as a high compliment that the CCHD apologists feel they have to do this preemptive "damage-control" to restore what at one time was an easy source of cash from unsuspecting Catholics.  We're "unsuspecting" no longer.  The truth is coming out.  Please read the FPL report, and also study the report put out by the Reform CCHD Now Coalition.

CCHD's Pathetic Excuse For Vetting

Remember how the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, in the afterthroes of the ACORN scandal, promised us that all was hunky-dorry with its "vetting process"?  Well, you'll be shocked (just SHOCKED, I tell you!) to learn that this wonderful vetting process isn't as wonderful as it was cracked up to be !  Surprise, suprise, suprise!!

Lifesite News has details of the NYC AIDS Housing Network, a current CCHD grantee, and its flagrant violation of CCHD guidelines.  In its distribution of condoms, it violates Catholic teaching regarding contraception.  NYC AIDS Housing Network allegedly lied to the CCHD when applying for their grant.

The USCCB wrote about this group on their Facebook page, "During the time it was funded by CCHD, the organization went through the same rigorous vetting process that included the support of the bishop. If at any point the the dioceses or CCHD had found evidence that the organization was in any way involved with condom distribution, the grant would have been immediately canceled. There was no evidence of this."  However, the group was listed as a condom distributer on a governmental website.  How is it that this "rigorous vetting process" failed to determine that?  Additionally, private investigators phoned the group and were told that they indeed distribute condoms.  I suspect that these investigators did not expend much effort to learn that information; could not the CCHD vetting crew have at least done as much due diligence?

Moreover, on September 22nd, Michael Hichborn of American Life League met with senior CCHD officials to discuss these findings with them.  At the time, they remained adamant in dismissing Hichborn's findings, preferring to rely only on their perfunctory phone call to the NYC AIDS.  One can reasonably assume that such was the "rigorous vetting" to which they subjected all their grant applicants - so much for their due diligence with the hard-earned money donated to them by the Catholics in the pews.

Let's take a look now at the CCHD Grant Agreement.  On that pdf, please go to page 5.  Of interest is Section G-2.  It says, "In the event of termination of this CCHD grant, USCCB shall provide Grantee written notice of such termination and of the cancellation of any portions of the grant that remain to be paid. USCCB may, in its discretion, require Grantee to  refund to USCCB the full amount of the CCHD grant and to transfer title to USCCB of any property purchased by the Grantee with CCHD grant funds."   Will the CCHD leaders have the decency to demand return of the money?  I think not, but not because they lack courage.  I think in many ways they are of like mind with the leaders of NYC AIDS and all the progressives who strive to undermine our Christian moral underpinnings.

Please boycott the CCHD and let's help bring this monster down.

Washington's CCHD Collection In August - Not November

A friend of mine alerted me to this  I wouldn't have learned of this otherwise, since I don't use parish envelopes. 

Anyway, the Archdiocese of Washington is doing their in-pew collection for the CCHD in August.  In prior years they followed the rest of the country in adhering to a November schedule.  Here is the link to the Second Collection Schedule.  There does seem to be some error here.  The hyperlink clearly says "2011 Second Collection Schedule", but the pdf itself does state "2012 Schedule".  Therein the CCHD is slated for August 12, which would be the 2012 Sunday.  However, my friend has confirmed that her envelope states that the CCHD collection will happen this coming August 14th.

I checked the schedule for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  Their CCHD collection remains in November - at least for now.  So why is Washington accelerating their CCHD collection?  One can only speculate, but perhaps one hypothesis is that the CCHD offices don't want you to be informed as to the usage of your donation dollars.  This blog, and others, devoted much time to detailing the sordid origins of the Campaign for Human Development (the word "Catholic" was a relatively recent addition to the term).  Were they trying to "get a jump on us", as it were? 

One indication of an affirmative answer to that question lies in the minor name change to the collection.  Look at the ADW schedule again.  Notice that it's called "Catholic Communications and Human Development".  So they removed "Campaign for" and replaced it with "Communications and".  Well, so much for that ploy!

I urge you all to put the words "CCHD" in the "magnifying glass" box and read the material.  In particular, I make two suggestions.  First, examine all the material supplied by the Vortex, particularly the "CIA" piece on the CCHD and Saul Alinsky.  Second, go to the top right-hand corner and click on the "Catholic Media Coalition" logo.  That will take you to the CMC page, which itself contains a wealth of information on the CCHD.  I also urge you to google the words "CCHD Stephanie Block".  Ms. Block is a CMC colleague who has done yeoman's work in researching the CCHD; read that material.  This information will give you ample reason to not only boycott this CCHD collection, but to encourage others to do the same.

CCHD - Boycott This In November - ALL Localities!

With all the rightly-placed focus on the elections that will occur in two days, I can understand that the upcoming annual CCHD collection this November has slipped the minds of many.  Alas, it is a reality that now cries for our attention.

In previous posts, I had suggested that we all boycott the CCHD collection in all localities with the exception of the Chicago Archdiocese.  At the time, their local CCHD director had taken significant steps to improve the grant-making process, defunding various progressive organizations and redirecting those monies to pro-life organizations and those actively engaged in the Works of Mercy.  Sadly, but not too surprisingly, that director was released from his position.  There was an internal drive to have him fired. 

This latest development in Chicago, plus the unusual delay in CCHD's release of the names of current grantees, leaves me with the regretable but necessary task of calling for the boycott of the CCHD in all locations, no exceptions.

British Bishop Waffles On Church Teaching

The smoke has scarcely cleared away from Pope Benedict's departure jet and already the lead British bishop is falling all over himself in downplaying the Magisterium's clear proclamations regarding marriage.

From Lifesite News, we read, and I quote, "Attempting to defend the Catholic hierarchy from accusations of being opposed to the homosexualist political agenda around the world, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster hastened to assure the BBC’s Huw Edwards, 'That’s not true.'”  Right off the bat, we see a problem.  Why did the archbishop see a need to "defend the Catholic hierarchy"?  The fact is that the Church is vehemently opposed to the gay political agenda that seeks to distort marriage to its own perverted ends.  Instead of defense, what would have been appropriate is polite but bold acknowledgment that the Church promotes God's will in all areas of human life, and that it's the gays that must apologize to the world for the harm they are inflicting.  Note I said "apologize" instead of "defend", for in reality, the gay agenda is indefensible.

Archbishop Nichols made his remarks during a panel discussion that included a gay Anglican professor and a "catholyc" professor known for her dissent on abortion and marriage.  Why did not the archbishop stand and act like, well, a bishop and call these two on the carpet for their destructive advocacies?  Now when the dissenter "accused" the Church of interfering in British politics concerning sexual morality, the archbishop gave a response so pathetic that it will be unbelievable unless I again quote verbatum: "“It’s not true. The times we interfere most in British politics are either to do with poverty or to do with education. The media is obsessed with certain questions. But if you want to know what we’re really passionate about, it’s about the fight against poverty and the education of young people.”

If ever you wanted prima facae evidence that the so-called "social gospel" is usurping the proper priority that must be given to moral issues of life and sexuality, and that weak bishops are using such advocacy as a cloak for their vaccilations, well voila!!  The gay Anglican and dissenter then responded to the effect of saying to the archbishop, "that was a nice grovveling job!  We know you don't take that Benedict fellow seriously!  You're okie-dokie!"  John Smeaton of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child rightly deplored the archbishop's remarks as undermining the Pope's call for Christians to defend Christianity in the public square.

So that's in England.  What does that have to do with situations in the US?  Plenty!  How often have you seen on this blog warnings of the damage done by the so-called "social justice" cabal?  Most (not all!) of that bunch are progressives; certainly their leadership is dominated by such. 
 
Two immediate concerns come to mind.

1. The November 2nd elections.  No doubt some of you are receiving "voter guides" from your states' Catholic conferences.  I'd bet that many of them don't differentiate the non-negotiable issues (abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, gay lifestyle) from other issues upon which good people may disagree (death penalty, environmental issues, taxation).  Not all issues are the same.  If a candidate seems right on most of them, but promotes a "pro-choice" platform, he/she is not worthy of a Catholic's vote - even if that candidate dares to call him/herself a Catholic!
2. The in-pew collection for Catholic Campaign for Human Development is almost upon us.  I would urge that you boycott it, as the collection proceeds are usually funnelled to organizations that oppose Church teaching.  Chicago CCHD is exempted from my recommendation here.  As I've explained previously, the Chicago CCHD has taken significant steps to correct its grant-giving process and at this time seem acceptable.

Problems Still Abound At CCHD

Deal Hudson released an excellent article detailing some current problems with the CCHD.  He mentions a progressive gab-fest where a number of former and current CCHD participated in forums.  He also pointed out that in previous years, the CCHD released the names of the grantees by late August, but this year they are waiting another month.  He looks askance upon such delay.  So do I.

I am recommending that we once again boycot the CCHD collection plate when it's passed down the pew this coming November.  I do not recommend a boycott, however, for the Archdiocese of Chicago, owing to some very significant improvements in their grantee awards (about which I wrote earlier).

Real Reform At Chicago CCHD!

Lifesite News reports that the Chicago office of the CCHD has undertaken significant reform since a new director, Ray Flores, took the helm a year ago.  He has moved to defund several recipient groups that espoused philosophies at variance with Church teaching in life/morality matters.

Local pregnancy centers have so far benefitted significantly.  One of them was able, as a result of monies received from CCHD, to upgrade to a 4D sonogram.  Hitherto, CCHD policy prohibited donations to pro-life groups (I believe that is still the case on the CCHD national level).  Chicago CCHD is now able to retain 50% of donations from the local parishes, as opposed to the 25% retention allowance for the rest of the nation.

Please read this entire Lifesite News report.  This is extremely significant, as the Chicago CCHD collection is the largest in the nation, and CCHD started in Chicago in 1959.

The question of the day is, "Will the national CCHD follow Chicago's lead and start to adhere to Catholic social teaching?"  At present, it doesn't.  Thus, at this time I must suggest another nationwide boycott of the CCHD collection, with the obvious exception for the Chicago area.

As the CCHD Collection Draws Near, It's Time to Take Off the Gloves

For the record, I agree 1000% percent with this video (no, that number was NOT a typo)!

Some Bishops "Strong-Arm" for CCHD Collection - Thus Betraying Its Moral Vacuity

In a recent letter to his priests, Bishop Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington (VA) has ordered his priests to take up the CCHD collection next weekend.  Read the letter carefully.  Note that he speaks in no uncertain terms to his priests about this collection.  He should be so bold and forthright when it come to obedience to Canon 915!

Notice that he also requires no negative commentary.  There is only one reason why he'd be stipulating that - because he must have received plenty of protests from priests who understand how nefarious the CCHD truly is.  Our colleagues at Les Femmes who are located in the Diocese of Arlington have been shedding the light on one particularly problematic recipient of local CCHD funds - Virginians Organized for Interfaith Engagement (VOICE for short).  They have reported on information that links the Fort Hood shooter to a Virginia mosque within the VOICE network.  That same mosque may have been frequented by some of the 9/11 terrorists.  And Bishop Loverde wants "no negative commentary"?

Here is the letter that the bishop mentioned in his directions to his priests.  Note that he really doesn't address the substantive issues that we, Les Femmes and many other are bringing to light.  After reading this, you might want to review the video posted a few days ago from EWTN.

The priests are vowed to obedience to the bishop.  Therefore, they must comply with his instructions, both in what they say and what they do.  However, we laity are free to sound our protests loud and clear, regardless of whether or not prelates regard them as "negative".  The best protest would be a note in that envelope explaining why, in no uncertain terms, CCHD will not receive one red penny of your money.

More Scandal at Baltimore CCHD

In the September 23rd posting, we saw that the Baltimore CCHD granted $10k in 2008 to the local ACORN - one of the first ACORN branches to be caught acting as a whorehouse advisory services, giving counsel as to how to exploit underage girls without getting caught.  We now learn from Accuracy in Media and a post in Freerepublic.com. that the same Baltimore CCHD funded an outfit called "Out for Justice / Alternative Directions."  On the staff of Alternative Directions is one Jay Sherr - a convicted child pornographer.  Follow the links on the Freerepublic page.  Both Out for Justice and Alternative Directions advocate for released prisoners.  One of the goals for "Out for Justice" is the removal of the right of a landlord to inquire about the criminal record of someone applying to rent a unit.  Translation - they want to remove legal protections of landlords and neighbors from potentially dangerous neighbors and tenants.  Baltimore CCHD, therefore, is funding efforts to expose innocent people in their own neighborhoods to perverts and felons.

The reasons to boycott the CCHD collection this weekend are crawling out from under the rocks at an astonishing pace.

USCCB Trolls for "Good Works of CCHD" - In Vain!

In a November 13th press release, the USCCB website braggs that "Diocesan Projects Highlight the Good Works of CCHD". Well, let's take a look!

We first hear about Federation of Congregations United to Serve (FOCUS). Right off the bat, we learn that they're a PICO affiliate. Looking at the PICO site under "latest news" we see them extolling the achievements of "Massachusetts faith leaders" in securing commitments from Barney Frank and the Fed Reserve to keep families in their homes. Now doesn't that just make your heart go pitter-patter? After all, Frank et al have done such a stellar job in keeping families in their homes over the past year - right? (Please stop snickering right now!) Of course they're all gung-ho for the Obama Death Bill that passed the House last week. One of their affiliates went so far as to lament the fact that good people with common sense are finding their voices and protesting this nonsense. And the USCCB calls this a "good work"? Let's proceed.

We now examine Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network. Its mission statement states, "Our initiatives help eliminate discrimination based on immigration status to ensure all new Americans can fully participate in building a more united and sustainable Minnesota economy." Let's translate the politically-correct gobblygoop into plain language. "We don't care if you break our laws! You can have a piece of the pie bought by law-abiding Americans simply because we're such nice suckers!" Again, I fail to see how this is a "good work".

Let's move onto Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless (two of them from Minnesota?). All they seem to do is foster the naive notion that government can and should take care of all human needs. Read their position paper to that effect. Look under "income security" and "health security". What we have here is a blatant violation of the Catholic principle of subsidiarity - a principle that the USCCB seems to hold in disdain.

As I said in previous posts, I believe that the CCHD is beyond reform simply because the purpose behind its very establishment was nefarious from the beginning. As I read such tripe on the USCCB webpage, I am all the more convinced that the USCCB itself should go into the dungheap of infamous history.

CCHD Boycott - Getting Down to the Wire

The CCHD second collection is less than two weeks away. We not only urge you to boycott this on Nov 22nd, but also to encourage your family, friends and other fellow Catholics to do the same. To this end, I've designed a flyer that briefly describes the current systemic problems of the CCHD and where to find more information. You may download it to email or print out for distribution.

Additionally, you may download and print this envelope stuffer to put in the Nov 22nd envelope in lieu of money. You might also visit the site http://www.reformcchdnow.com/ for alternate envelope stuffers and more information.

I'd also like to direct you to an interview done by Pro Life Unity Radio this past weekend. Please listen to the November 7th interview.

If you have questions or concerns, please note them in the comments box below. Let's move on this, as time is of the essense. Thanks.

Another Cracked ACORN Bites the Dust

Today in New Orleans state investigators raided the ACORN offices, as part of an investigation into tax fraud and embezzlement during the days when ACORN was headquartered there. Computer drives and documents were hauled away for copying.

In other words, state officials were simply cleaning up some of the mess that was financed by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. In future years, who knows what Gamaliel affiliate or IAF organization will be raided? Ladies and gentlemen, this is just another reminder why we cannot contribute to the CCHD collection on November 22nd!

2009 CCHD Collection Theme: "We Made a Friggin' Mess! Let's Make More!!"

That's what it might as well be. According to the USCCB, it's "Families are struggling. Faith is calling." Well, why are families struggling? Here's a hint as to part of the reason - CCHD!

So why are families struggling today? Well, it's the economy. But what led to that? We might be tempted to say it's the mortgage crisis and such. But what was at the basis of that? One key factor is that lending institutions were largely coerced into making mortgage loans to people who most likely would have trouble repaying. Such coercion came about largely through the malfeasance of liberal politicians such as Barney Frank, and often at the behest of "community organizing" cartels such as ACORN and others. Sure enough, folks defaulted on the loans. Credit dried up without payments coming in, so house prices plummeted. I won't go into a long economic tome here, but we know that ACORN received millions from the CCHD. Therefore, the CCHD was funding much of the mischief that ACORN wrought on the housing industry, and thus, the nations and - of course, the "struggling families".

So why, oh why, should any of us drop one red penny into that second collection basket on November 22nd? The answer? We shouldn't!!!

Please boycott this collection! For more information and some tools, go to the "boycott the CCHD collection" entry at the right of this entry.

New Medical Breakthroughs with Obamacare!

Ladies and gentlemen, here is a harbinger of things to come, thanks to the Messiah Most Miserable! (Drum roll, please!)

HYDROGEN BARACKSIDE!

Read all the wondrous effects this state-of-the-art concoction will have on your health and wealth!

You might think this is simply a bad attempt at humor. However, in this cartoon is more truth than we might care to admit.

Catholics, please consider that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development bears much responsibility for foisting upon us all this deadly (and I do mean "deadly" in the literal sense) disaster. Bear this in mind when the bishops start trolling for the CCHD collection on the weekend of Nov 21-22. Boycott it!

If You Thought the Term "Obama Death-Care" Was Unkind..

Sorry! You're wrong! If anything, that term is an understatement of the horrors that await us all, should we be so unfortunate as to fall into the hands of his Frankenstein-esque cabal.

Here's a "case in point". It came to my attention that Cass Sunstein, another of Obama's countless "czars", has made his grisly opinions known. Since he was just recently confirmed, we can only assume that such are the views held by the Messiah Most Macabre himself. And just what might those views be?

He defends the "possibility of removing organs from terminally ill patients without their permission." Yes, you read that correctly! The "organ donors" need not be dead before Frankenstein et al come with their knives and buzzsaws to rip out their vital organs. Of course they will be dead immediately after the removal!

He writes candidly about this murder scenario in his book, "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness". He calls this type of murder "routine removal". He says,"Though it may sound grotesque, routine removal is not impossible to defend. In theory, it would save lives, and it would do so without intruding on anyone who has any prospect for life." Well it not only sounds grotesque; it is grotesque! "Save lives? He is talking of ending lives. Moreover, we have the state here deciding who has any "prospect for life".

This book gets quite revelatory. Note this pivotal statement:"The state owns the rights to body parts of people who are dead or in certain hopeless conditions, and it can remove their organs without asking anyone's permission." (italics mine) Do you comprehend what he's saying here? If you fall into a coma or a condition like the murdered Terri Shiavo, according to Sunstein, it is the state who owns your body! Not you, not your family - but the state.

Such is the mindset of the left. The vast majority of leftists and socialists are atheists. They do not believe in the One True God. However, nature abhors a vacuum. Man's nature demands a god, since there is an inate instinct for a god (even though that instinct is corrupted by original sin). Thus the State becomes god. It is for that reason that Pope Pius XII pointed out that no one can truly be a Catholic while being a Socialist. Here we have crystal-clear proof of the dangers of what Mark Levin calls "statism".

One institution that had better learn this lesson is the Catholic hierarchy in this country. The bishops, at least the majority of them, still insist on their dangerous flirtations with socialism. We must help them learn that lesson. A good way to start will be to boycott the Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection in November.