Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis Disbands Girl Scouts For Doing What CRS *Actually* Does - Could other Dioceses Follow?

*VOCAL is a member of Reform CCHD Now which is now part of the Lepanto Institute.                                                             
"For months, Catholic Relief Services have been playing the role of the wizard in The Wizard of Oz: nothing to see behind the curtain!  Pay no attention!

Then the Archdiocese of St. Louis did something so absolutely extraordinary...

I had to share it.


The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis finally gave the boot to the Girl Scouts of America because of  its intimate relationships with abortion and contraception providing organizations, such as Planned Parenthood. Specifically, the Archdiocese of St. Louis mentioned a favorite of Catholic Relief Services -- OxFam -- as a reason why Catholics could no longer trust them:
4. Organizations that GSUSA promotes and partners with are in conflict with Catholic values, such as Amnesty International, Coalition for Adolescent Girls, OxFam and more. This is especially troubling in regards to sex education and advocacy for “reproductive rights” (i.e. abortion and contraceptive access, even for minors)
What’s interesting about this is that according to a list of grants dispensed by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for fiscal year 2014, CRS gave nearly half-a-million dollars to Oxfam.  We are currently analyzing the latest list of CRS grants for fiscal year 2014, but on average, between 86% and 90% of CRS’s grants to domestic organizations go to agencies that are acting in direct conflict with Catholic moral and social teaching.
To date, Catholic Relief Services has responded with "internal investigations" -- intimating that Catholic organizations investigating their practices are involved in "slander" and are "maliciously" raising questions as to why CRS is giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to an organization that is now condemned by at least one Catholic bishop.

CRS is clearly and deliberately intimidating the Lepanto Institute and other Catholic laypersons, religious, priests and bishops in order to silence any analysis of their anti-Catholic and prejudicial giving processes.
To date, CRS has been very happy to attack and destroy anyone who even dares raise the question as to why Catholic donations are going to unCatholic organizations.  Now that the Archdiocese of St. Louis has marked OxFam as one of the bad guys, will CRS finally end the marketing campaign and threats of intimidation?  Or will they simply ramp it up?

We suspect CRS will simply double down on the attacks.  Which is why I am writing to you today: to please send us your maximum possible contribution so we can end once and for all the deceptive funding practices at Catholic Relief Services!

For some time, the Lepanto Institute has made it our mission to bring these facts to light, in service to our priests and bishops, in order to restore Catholic sanity and fulfill our Catholic mission -- to "restore all things in Christ" for the salvation of souls.

Millions of Catholics who faithfully work for and in service to Holy Mother Church are being deceived by a coterie of well-heeled bureaucrats willing to compromise what you and I believe as Catholics.  But when our donations and charity are used to fuel the fires of the culture of death, that is WRONG.

Without your gift of $35 or more, these facts might never come to light.  Our bishops and priests might very well be kept in the dark by these professional bureaucrats, and faithful Catholics every Sunday would give in charity to support things such as contraceptives, abortifacients, or worse when they believe they are feeding the poor, helping families, or building up the Catholic Faith.

It's time we -- as Catholics -- stood up with a clear voice and give our priests and bishops the support they need to investigate "institutionalized Catholicism" at places such as Catholic Relief Services -- organizations that serve themselves, but hedge on our Catholic faith.

That's the reason why the Lepanto Institute exists, to warn our priests and bishops and remain true to the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church.

It has been said that the solution for what ails the Catholic Church isn't diversity or community or dissent... but one word: FIDELITY.

If you believe as I do that the universal call to holiness is not a mere abstraction, but something our Blessed Mother desires most ardently for the souls of mankind, then I need your help -- and I need to show your support so we can continue to take on the enemies of Mother Church and keep the attention up and focused.

For one, I am so glad to see that the Archidiocese of St. Louis took this step!  We need to continue to show support for our priests and bishops who take courageous stands such as these in the face of the intimidation tactics, threats, and lies that are so often used to promote evil.

Can I count on your support for $35 or more today?
Please pray for the Church and for Lepanto's mission as we continue to unearth the truth and "restore all things to Christ." (1 Col. 1:20)
Christus Vincit!"

Michael Hichborn
President
Lepanto Insititute

PS:  REMEMBER that nothing we do here at the Lepanto Institute is done without the prayers and support of faithful Catholics such as yourself.  Bringing this information to light is hard -- we know it's hard to see -- but unless it is done, more victims of this senseless and outrageous pattern of deception will emerge.  Such deception is dangerous to our faith, our priests, and to Holy Mother Church, and we here at the Lepanto Institute remain dedicated to prayerfully and faithfully raising the tough questions -- all in faithful service to our bishops and priests.  Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!

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