According to a report by the conservative Catholic think tank Lepanto Institute for the Restoration of All Things in Christ, several bishops in the U.S., through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), are funding progressive organizations who are currently “agitating” against law and order by allegedly pushing ideas such as the defunding of the police force, the defunding of prisons, upholding labor rights and embracing anti-racist ideologies.
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the CCHD is the national anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic Bishops and is an organization guided by the belief that only those who are directly affected by unjust systems and structures have the best insight into knowing how to change them.
As noted in the USCB website, the CCHD, as an organization, works to break the cycle of poverty by helping low-income people participate directly in decisions that may affect their lives, their families and their communities.
“CCHD offers a hand up, not a handout,” the website read.
The Lepanto Institute, however, argues that the organization actually operates by following “Marxist” paradigms, an operation allegedly highlighted by its decision to fund radical and progressive organizations.
According to the Lepanto report, one of the “Marxist” groups the CCHD funneled funds to is the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ), which received USD 150,000 in funding from the bishops’ organization over the past three years.
Known as a grassroots membership organization of African American workers and families, the NOWCRJ, according to its website, is “dedicated to winning inclusion, opportunity, and racial equity.”
Lepanto, however, noted that the organization posted disturbing videos of a protest on its official Twitter account.
“NOWCRJ posted a video on [T]witter of a protest they were participating in, chanting ‘Death to the racist pigs,’ about police,” the institute’s report said.
Much like NOWCRJ, the Workers’ Center of Central New York also filed calls for the defunding of the police, Lepanto said in its report.
The group, which received some USD 200,000 from the CCHD over the past few years, also aired support for the ongoing protests and riots, with the group even posting on its official social media accounts that these activities are “necessary tools.”
“These riots and lootings are taking back what the masses of working black and brown communities are owed. Riots and protests are necessary tools and we fully support,” stated the group, which has worked with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Lepanto also identified Chicago-based The People’s Lobby Education Institute, as one of the Marxist groups the CCHD funnels funds to. As per the Lepanto report, the CCHD gave USD 165,000 to the group within the last three years. (Related: Vatican caught up in money laundering scheme involving hospitals and charities.)
According to Lepanto, the group, which is described as a grassroots movement that works to fight against injustice and economic, racial and gender inequality, repeatedly called for the defunding of the police and prisons.
Another group identified by the Lepanto Institute in its report is the Workers’ Defense Project, which is a group that aims to empower low-income workers to achieve fair employment.
Lepanto noted that the Texas-based group accused Houston police of “murdering PoC [people of color] with impunity,” before calling for the defunding of the institution.
In addition, several other groups funded by the CCHD have signed a Solidarity Letter from the Immigrant Justice Movement, which called for the abolishment of the “Police State.”
Lepanto pointed to CCHD head Ralph McCloud, as the one currently steering the Catholic organization into supporting Left-wing radicalism.
“The network of CCHD-funded groups pushing radical ideological agendas under the banner of justice clearly follows the Marxist paradigm and has since the founding of the CCHD. And Ralph McCloud is very much a part of that,” Lepanto said in its report.
McCloud, who was previously awarded the MLK Keep the Dream Alive Award by Catholic Charities USA, recently took part in a panel set by Georgetown University's Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life called "Racism in our Streets and Structures: A Test of Faith, A Crisis for Our Nation," where he, alongside other prominent Black leaders and community organizers, talked about the alleged injustices suffered by minority communities in the U.S. in light of the current situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing spate of riots across the country.
During the panel, McCloud noted that racism does not exist in a vacuum and that the injustices faced by minority communities are factors that have since led to them being disproportionately impacted by the Wuhan coronavirus as well as the health crisis and economic problems it left in its wake.
"There's a degree of stress and a degree of trauma associated with being African American in 2020, given all that we've experienced," McCloud said.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, however, the USCCB, which handles groups such as CCHD, has not answered any requests for comments.
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