The Children of the World are Shrewder than the Children of Light

You gotta give President Obama credit for being one shrewd puppy. Last August he held a conference call to promote his health care initiative sponsored by a number of "religious" groups (under the name 40 Days for Health Reform) that attracted 140,000 participants. The "Catholic" sponsors on the list included well known dissent groups Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United. Both are George Soros-funded fronts which use the name Catholic to imply Church support while actually working to promote abortion, same sex "marriage" and other abominations condemned by Church doctrine. Their purpose is to neutralize the true Catholic voice which is pro-life and pro-family. If you examine their beliefs and agenda you find they are more in line with a leftist political agenda than traditional Catholic morality.

The sad thing, however, is that the Catholic Church helped stage this morality masquerade through the funding of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) collection. Among the groups listed as supporters for the "40 Days" initiative is the Gamaliel Foundation. Gamaliel receives a significant amount of its funding from CCHD to advance its liberal agenda.

To see the intimate and lucrative connection between Gamaliel and the bishops, a few illustrations suffice. In 2002 Rev. Robert J. Vitillo, then Executive Director of CCHD addressed the GAMALIEL Foundation and accepted an award on behalf of the bishops. Among Fr. Vitillo's comments were these:

The Campaign has particularly enjoyed its work in solidarity with projects affiliated with the Gamaliel Foundation. Over the years, CCHD offered approximately $7 million to 188 Gamaliel-affiliated projects. CCHD is especially grateful for your foundation's work in the areas of metropolitan organizing.

Gamaliel is a leader in promoting President Obama's health care plan. The group is a member of Health Care for America Now, a coalition that, according to researcher Stephanie Block, "includes several other Alinskyian organizing networks, such as ACORN, as well as some pro-abortion groups like the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. And DART – the Direct Action and Research Training Center." According to Block, Gamaliel affiliates rake in 4-5% of CCHD grants. While they claim to take a neutral position on abortion, Gamaliel's activist role in promoting Obama's universal government health care partnering beds them with radical advocates of unrestricted abortion. How compromised can you be? Can an organization actively working with radical advocates of abortion, abortifacient birth control, forced participation of health care workers against their consciences, etc. still claim neutrality? Gamaliel's buddies in the network are proponents of the liberal creed including positions anathema to Catholics. Faith in Public Life is one of the umbrella group that pulls together faux religious communities to neutralize moral issues in the public debate. Spearheaded by Jim Wallis, head of the liberal Sojourners, Faith in Public Life has been very effective at shilling for liberals including Kathleen Sebelius, the Kansas governor so enamored with late-term abortionist George Tiller.

On their website, Gamaliel proudly acclaims their relationship with President Obama and his roots as one of their community organizer. Gamaliel is deeply rooted in liberalism. That the Catholic Church would fund this group that does little to actually help the poor, but much to radicalize the Church to engage in advancing the liberal agenda is a scandal that continues year after year. Catholics need to realize that not only is CCHD funding liberalism around the country primarily focused on creating support for Democratic pro-abortion, pro-sodomy polticians, but it also funds "education" in parishes that teaches the principles of liberation theology. Instead of planting mustard seeds that grow into trees of faith, CCHD plants ACORNS that grow into Catholic dissent groups.

Boycott CCHD (The collection is taken up in most diocese in November.) and ask your bishop to boycott it as well. The money that goes to CCHD will not go to the poor. In fact grants to groups working directly to feed and shelter the hungry and perform other corporal works of mercy ARE SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITED. They are ineligible for CCHD grants which are reserved for "empowering" the community. The "charity" was developed specifically to fund Saul Alinsky networks. Msgr. Jack Egan and Saul Alinsky were the brains behind it, with the help of Cardinal Deardon, finding a way to funnel Catholic money into liberal political groups masquerading as non-partisan non-profits.

Wake up and smell the coffee! CCHD operatives are all about advancing, not the kingdom of God, but the kingdom of this world. Don't be an enabler. It's time for Catholics in the pew to be as shrewd as the Gamaliel community organizer in the White House. Just say no to the CCHD this year. There are plenty of real charities that deserve your support.

Thirteen news stories designed to tear back the curtain on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) or perhaps a more accurate description: Catholic Cash Helping Democrats.