Still Unsure about the CCHD Collection...

I still just don't feel comfortable even thinking about giving money to the CCHD. I followed the story last fall, winter and spring as more and more Bishops refused to hold the collections in their dioceses (by June the number of Bishops was up to ten). The below quote is from the same article:

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, told LifeSiteNews in November that he questions CCHD’s “ideology.” He said he would not offer the collection in his diocese until there were "some changes in the organization itself, or its purposes, or its goals."

He said that Bishop Morin too easily dismissed the concerns. “We are shocked at the scandalous participation with the ACORN organization and also the participation with other organizations of questionable moral values or standards.” He added that CCHD’s "controversial character made it appear that it was not effective" in meeting its purposes.

I was hopeful that the concern of a number of bishops would cause the reform that the Reform the CCHD Now Coalition was calling for. Then I saw this post on Restore DC Catholicism.

Here's the latest from LifeSiteNews:

The USCCB document was greeted with cautious optimism by members of RCN, who have been pushing for reform in the organization ever since it was discovered last year that CCHD has been funding numerous groups that are involved in pro-abortion or pro-homosexual activities.

However, the RCN coalition has since pointed out that one group highlighted in the renewal document, the Coalition of Imokalee Workers, which is listed as an “example of CCHD’s remarkable work,” took part in the U.S. Social Forum 2010, a progressive organization which supports abortion and LGBT “rights.”

RCN cites numerous workshops that took place at the Forum that show that promotion of LGBT and abortion “rights” is at the heart of the Forum’s agenda. Among the workshops the U.S. Social Forum promoted were those entitled “Maintaining Abortion as a Reproductive Right for Low – Income Woman,” “Queer Injustice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States,” and “Radical Queer Festivals.”

Read the entire article here.

There are plenty of good Catholic organizations that do social justice work and make the world a better place. These Franciscans are some of my favorites. But I still just don't feel comfortable dropping a penny into the CCHD collection as long as there's any doubt that the money is headed towards supporting the destruction of innocent lives.