A Tennessee group that describes aborting unborn babies as “healthcare” received a $50,000 grant from a U.S. Catholic bishops’ agency in 2019, according to a new report from the Lepanto Institute.
The grant came from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, an anti-poverty agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Lepanto Institute recently discovered that the Catholic agency gave multiple grants to groups that openly defy Catholic Church teachings about the sanctity of human life and family.
One of them is the Workers’ Dignity Project, a Nashville, Tennessee-based group that is listed as a “community partner” on Planned Parenthood’s 2017-2018 annual report.
According to the investigation, the Catholic agency gave a $50,000 grant to the Workers’ Dignity Project in 2019 and $245,000 in grants since 2012.
The Workers’ Dignity Project advocates for killing unborn babies in abortions on its social media accounts. According to the report, its posts include the hashtags “AbortionIsHealthcare, AbortionIsEssential, AbortionIsNormal, AbortionForever.” It also published videos and other content promoting Planned Parenthood, which aborts more than 345,000 unborn babies annually.
“What kind of sick organization writes ‘abortion forever,’ and why is it receiving funding from the Catholic Church,” said Michael Hichborn, president of the Lepanto Institute in a statement. “All bishops of good will have got to completely withdraw from the CCHD. The CCHD claims to have resolved its issues back in 2010, and this is clearly not the case. It’s time to shut it down.”
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The Catholic agency gave grants to other groups whose work contradicts Catholic teachings, too.
The Christian Post reports Stand Up Nashville, Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope and Nashville Organized for Action also received grants that add up to more than $150,000.
Here’s more from the report:
… the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope and Nashville Organized for Action and Hope, are listed as coalition organizations of Power Together, a local chapter of the Women’s March on Washington. The guiding vision and principles of Power Together include support for “open access to safe, legal, and affordable, abortion and birth control for all people, regardless of income, location, or education.”
It appears that the Catholic agency is not following its own guidelines for the grants. According to the Post, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development tells grantees that they must “affirm compliance with Catholic social teachings.” The guidelines also make clear that “any organization involved in partisan political activities is ineligible for CCHD funding.”
It also states that organizations and their affiliates, partners and coalition members “must not endorse or advocate policies and issues that are contrary to Catholic Social Teaching” including abortion and euthanasia.
The Lepanto Institute has a petition urging the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to withdraw from the agency and refuse to give it money. Find the petition here.
