2017 New Priest Assignments

6/3/2017 1:00:00 PM Priest reassignments announced Fr. Eric Andersen Fr. Theodore Lange + view more photos More clergy notes TITLE CHANGES Eight priests will receive a change in title while remaining where they currently serve. Changing titles from administrator to pastor are Father Michael Jeeva Antony of St. Peter and St. Mark in Eugene; Father Jose Manuel Campos Garcia of St. Joseph in Roseburg; Father Rodel de Mesa of Holy Family in Portland; Father Mark Gikenyi of Nativity in Rainer; Father James Graham of Holy Redeemer in North Bend; Father Matt Libra of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Portland; Father Arturo Romero-Bautista of St. Patrick in Canby; and Father Benjamin Tapia-Ortiz of Good Shepherd in Central Point. ADDED DUTIES Father Michael Vuky was temporary administrator of St. Edward in North Plains, but now takes on the post permanently in addition to duties in Verboort and Roy. Father Lucas Laborde is now assigned as permanent parochial administrator of St. Michael Parish in downtown Portland in addition to his role as pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Northwest Portland. He had been temporary parochial administrator since February. RETURNING, RETIRING AND MOVING Jesuit Father Roy Antunez, a longtime pastor in the southern part of the state, will return to service in his religious community. He served at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Cottage Grove, St. Alice in Springfield, Sacred Heart in Medford, St. Luke in Woodburn and St. Ignatius in Portland. Father Mike Morrissey is retiring. He was born in El Paso, Texas, and attended seminary high school in Wisconsin and New York. After completing work at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, he went to Maryknoll Seminary in New York. He was ordained for the Capuchin Franciscans of New York in 1978. He served in Queens and then went to Guam where he served until 1988. He came to Oregon in 1989 and was incardinated into the archdiocese in 1992. Here, he has served at St. Joseph in Salem, St. John the Baptist in Milwaukie, St. Anne in Gresham and St. Catherine in Veneta. Father Ken Olsen has retired. Born in Seattle, he attended Mount Angel College Seminary, the Catholic University of America and Collegium Canisianum und an der Universität in Innsbruck, Austria. Ordained in 1973 for the Archdiocese of Portland, he served in Oregon City and then Ashland as parish priest and director of the Newman Center. In 1977, he began ministry in British Columbia and was trained in the eastern Catholic rites. He served in Canada for 25 years. In 2010, he took over as administrator of St. Michael Parish in Oakridge, with the mission of St. Henry in Dexter. While there, he taught iconography to parishioners. He served as a chaplain for the PeaceHealth system, which operates Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield. Augustinian Father Bill Ryan will return to service in his religious community. Father Ryan grew up in Albany, New York, where his father worked in government. Five or six days a week throughout the winter, he could be found sleeping in his parish hall in Myrtle Creek. The hall houses the parish’s warming center, which provides food and shelter for the area’s homeless population on cold nights. He joined the Order of St. Augustine in 1957 and was ordained in 1966. As part of the order, he taught in schools from Philadelphia to Ojai, California. Not long after his ordination, he took to protesting the unjust wages of the housekeeping and cooking staff at a house in which he resided with his fellow priests. During his time in southern Oregon, Father Ryan helped to establish the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Medford, Myrtle Creek and Glendale. He was also key in the establishment of St. Rita Retreat Center in Gold Hill. He served as associate pastor for Sacred Heart Parish in Medford before becoming pastor at All Souls Parish in Myrtle Creek.  VISITING Two priests are visiting western Oregon for short assignments. Father Miguel Cardozo Garcia, from the Archdiocese of San Luis Potosi in Mexico, will be assisting at St. Joseph in Salem over the summer. Father Athanasius Onyima, from the Diocese of Orlu in Nigeria, will be assisting at various parishes into the fall. UPDATED JUNE 7, 10:36 AM Archbishop Alexander Sample has announced the following assignments for priests in the Archdiocese of Portland. Assignments are effective July 1 unless noted otherwise. PASTORS Fr. Eric Andersen New assignment: Pastor, St. Stephen in Portland Previous assignment: Parochial vicar, St. Stephen in Portland Born in 1967, he attended the University of Oregon and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theater in 1990. He completed a master’s degree and a sacred theology bachelor’s degree at Mount Angel Seminary and was ordained in 2009 by Archbishop John Vlazny. He has served at Our Lady of the Mountain in Ashland, Christ the King in Milwaukie, St. John the Baptist in Milwaukie, St. Cecilia in Beaverton, Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Verboort, Sacred Heart in Medford, St. Mary in Eugene, Sacred Heart-St. Louis in Gervais and Holy Trinity in Bandon. In 2015, he was named parochial vicar at St. Stephen, serving with Father John Boyle, who is also director of the Archdiocese of Portland Tribunal. Father Boyle will remain in residence at St. Stephen. Fr. Ed Coleman New assignment: Pastor, St. Michael in Oakridge, with St. Henry in Dexter as a mission Previous assignment: Immaculate Conception in Stayton Immaculate Conception in Stayton includes the mission parish of St. Catherine in Mill City. He also has pastored Our Lady of Lourdes in Jordan with the mission parish of St. Patrick in Lyons. He arrived in Stayton in 2011 from St. James Parish in Molalla and has served in a number of other parishes as well. Fr. Theodore Lange New assignment: Pastor, St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Veneta and chaplain at Marist High School in Eugene Previous assignment: Formation director, Mount Angel Seminary Father Lange was born in Salem in 1978. He attended St. Joseph and Salem Heights elementary schools and graduated from Sprague High in 1996. He attended Lane Community College and earned an associate’s degree in 1999. He entered Mount Angel Seminary in 2002, and earned a bachelor’s degree of arts in philosophy and literature in 2004. He moved on to the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City and attained a sacred theology bachelor’s degree from the Gregorian University in Rome in 2007. His ministry has included work at St. John the Baptist, Milwaukie; Christ the King, Milwaukie; Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Fla.; St. Jude, Eugene; Our Lady of Fatima, Shady Cove; Our Lady of the Mountain, Ashland; Sacred Heart, Medford; and Shepherd of the Valley, Central Point. In addition to help form seminarians at Mount Angel, he was designated in 2016 as a missionary of mercy for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. He gave talks around the region. Fr. Luan Nguyen New assignment: Pastor, Immaculate Conception in Stayton, Our Lady of Lourdes in Jordan and St. Catherine of Siena in Mill City Previous assignment: Pastor, Star of the Sea in Brookings Born in 1968 and ordained in 2008, he served as parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Lake in Lake Oswego and St. Joseph in Salem before being named administrator in Brookings. His title was changed to pastor in 2011. Father Nguyen, 48, was born in Saigon. He harbored a calling to be a priest, but Vietnamese officials deterred seminaries. After he came to the United States at age 24, he obtained an electrical engineering degree from Portland State University and began work as a technician. He still perceived a call to priesthood and entered Mount Angel Seminary in 2000.  “I just want to help people establish a relationship with God,” he explained before his ordination. “Jesus has to be the center.” Fr. Ted Prentice New assignment: Pastor, St. Joseph the Worker in Portland Previous assignment: Pastor, St. James in Molalla Born in 1963, he was a former mechanical engineer who was ordained in May 2004. Born in Portland in 1963, he is one of eight children. He attended Pope John XXIII Elementary School in North Portland and graduated from Portland's Benson Polytechnic High School in 1981. He graduated from the University of Portland in 1985, then worked as a mechanical engineer in the Los Angeles area. At the same time, he served as a teaching assistant at a Catholic alternative high school. He entered Mount Angel Seminary in 1998. His ministry training has included being an elder visitor at Mount St. Joseph in Portland, serving as pastoral minister to the Latino community at Holy Redeemer Parish in North Portland, and participating in clinical pastoral education at the Oregon State Hospital. Father Prentice spent a summer at the Mexican American Cultural Center in a Spanish immersion program. He served a year as pastoral intern at Christ the King Parish, Milwaukie, and was a deacon at St. Mary Parish, Mount Angel. He served as parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Eugene, and pastor at Star of the Sea Parish in Astoria. He took a post at St. Anthony in Tigard before being named to Molalla in 2011. ADMINISTRATORS Fr. Justus Alaeto New assignment: Administrator, Star of the Sea Parish in Brookings Previous assignment: Parochial vicar, Sacred Heart Parish in Medford Born in 1976 in Orlu, Nigeria, he graduated from high school in 1994 from St. Mary Seminary Umuowa in Orlu. He attended the National Missionary Seminary of St. Paul in Abuja, Nigeria, earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 2003. He attended Sts. Peter and Paul Major Seminary in Ibadan, Nigeria, and the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. After studying at Mount Angel Seminary, he transferred to Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corner, Wis., where he completed a master of divinity degree. In 2012, he was ordained by Archbishop John Vlazny. His ministry has included work at St. Anthony in Tigard; Veterans Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis; All Saints in Portland; and St. Vincent de Paul, Salem. In 2012, he was named parochial vicar for Shepherd of the Valley Parish in Central Point and then moved on to Sacred Heart. Fr. Aniceto Guiriba New assignment: Administrator, St. James in Molalla Previous assignment: Administrator, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Albany Born in 1977, he was raised in Camalig, Albay, Philippines. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Bicol University College of Arts and Sciences in Daraga, Albay, in 1998. He attended St. Gregory the Great Minor Seminary in Tabaco City and the Divine Word Mission Seminary in Quezon City, receiving a diploma in philosophy in 2005. He then studied at the Divine Word School of Theology in Tagaytay City. He entered Mount Angel Seminary in 2010 and was ordained in 2013. His ministry has included assignments at St. Dominic Guzman Parish in Polangui, Albay; Our Lady of the Promised Land in Quezon City; Good Shepherd Sisters Home for Abused Young Women in Tagaytay City; at Mangyan Reservation Heritage site; Lunggani Najuan, Oriental Mindoro, and at Sacred Heart Parish, Kamunig, Quezon City — all in the Philippines. He served at St. Anthony Parish in Tigard before being named to Albany. Father George Kuforiji New assignment: Administrator, Holy Trinity in Bandon Previous assignment: Parochial vicar, Holy Trinity in Bandon Born in 1951 in Oshogbo, Nigeria, he attended elementary school at St. Benedict Catholic School there and graduated from St. Joseph College High School, Ondo, Nigeria in 1969. He studied at the University of Washington in Seattle, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1983. He then worked with the Oregon Department of Transportation. He entered seminary in 2010, and was installed as a lector and an acolyte in 2013. He studied theology at the Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wis. His ministry training included assignments at St. Vincent’s, Salem; St. Francis of Assisi, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and St. Joseph Hospital, Tacoma, Washington. He was ordained by Archbishop Sample in 2015. Msgr. Chuck Lienert New assignment: Administrator, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Portland Previous assignment: Retired This will be a one-year term for the monsignor, who was ordained in 1968 and once served as vicar for clergy. He retired in 2012. His early boyhood was at St. Clare Parish in Portland. Then the family moved to a farm near Oregon City. Young Chuck would mow the cemetery lawn and paint the school. He also spent a year in Germany as an exchange student. He attended Central Catholic and then went to Mount Angel Seminary for college. A seminarian during the Second Vatican Council and the U.S. civil rights struggle, he saw the church as a power for making the world more just and compassionate. He has led Immaculate Heart and St. Andrew parishes and has long experience in serving with African American Catholics. He has been active in the Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good, a coalition of faith groups and service organizations advocating for low-income people. He also served in Grants Pass and Cave Junction. He previously served as priest-moderator at St. Francis Parish for a half dozen years.   Fr. Joseph Hung Nguyen New assignment: Administrator, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Cottage Grove Previous assignment: Parochial vicar, Ascension in Portland He was born in 1973, in Saigon, Vietnam. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Portland in 2012 by Archbishop Vlazny. Prior to his seminary studies, Father Nguyen received a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. Father Nguyen studied at Mount Angel Seminary. His first assignment was at St. Cecilia, Beaverton as parochial vicar. He moved to the same role at St. Anne in Grants Pass before being named parochial vicar at Ascension last year. Fr. Edwin Sanchez-Romero New assignment: Administrator, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Albany Previous assignment: Parochial Vicar, St. Joseph in Salem Ordained in 2015 by Archbishop Sample, he was born in 1985 in Bogota, Colombia. He attended elementary and secondary schools in Pitalito, Huila, Colombia, graduating high school in 2002. He entered the Seminary Maria Immaculada where he studied philosophy. He attended St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 2010. He continued his studies at St. Patrick Seminary. Fr. Karl Schray New assignment: Administrator, All Souls in Myrtle Creek Previous assignment: Retired He retired in 2015, not long after marking 50 years as a priest. He most recently served at Holy Redeemer Parish in North Bend and traveled to Europe. Father Schray served at a handful of Portland-area parishes including St. Charles, St. John the Baptist in Milwaukie, Blessed Sacrament, Christ the King in Milwaukie and Assumption. He also served at St. Joseph in Salem, Holy Name in Coquille and St. Anne in Grants Pass. Father Schray taught at North Catholic High School and La Salle Catholic Preparatory. He was also a supporter of the Young Ladies Institute in the archdiocese. The library at St. Anne School is named after Father Schray, who helped open the school during his time in Grants Pass. Father Schray was known for his many hours ministering to the sick, and his celebration of the Mass every other week for prisoners at Shutter Creek Correctional Institution. PAROCHIAL VICARS Fr. Suresh Amalraj Fr. Suresh Amalraj New assignment: Parochial vicar, Immaculate Conception in Stayton, Our Lady of Lourdes in Jordan and St. Catherine of Siena in Mill City Previous assignment: Rector of St. Augustine Minor Seminary and vocation promoter, Diocese of Tiruchirapalli, India Born in Melapudur, India, he was ordained in 1978 for the Diocese of Tiruchirapalli. He holds master’s degrees in theology, education and Sanskrit. He holds a doctorate in comparative religions. He says his main joy in recent years has been looking after the formation of seminarians and visiting parishes around the diocese. Fr. Arjie Garcia New assignment: Parochial vicar, Shepherd of the Valley in Central Point Previous assignment: Parochial vicar, St. Anthony in Tigard Born in 1985 in the Philippines, he is the oldest of four children. He graduated from a Catholic high school in 2002 and studied secondary education. Father Garcia believes his road to ordination began at a high school retreat. The sister facilitating the retreat suggested the students think about something they’d done as a child, and to take that moment, meditate on it, and imagine a possible future around it. “The times when I’d play-acted being a priest was what came to me,” says Father Garcia. He was accepted into the diocesan seminary in Cebu, where he was recommended to study philosophy. He began studying for the Archdiocese of Portland at Mount Angel Seminary in 2010. He completed a pastoral year at Our Lady of the Mountain Parish in Ashland. He was ordained by Archbishop Sample last year and was assigned to Tigard. Father Hans Mueller New assignment: Parochial vicar, Ascension Parish in Portland Previous assignment: Seminary in Rome The assignment is for the summer only, as Father Mueller, ordained on June 3, will return to Rome for studies. Born and raised in Salem, he went to public high school and then Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. After college, he joined Reach Youth Ministry, travelling to parishes and giving retreats for mid-high and high school teens. He was coordinator of youth ministry at St. Anne in Grants Pass when he discerned a call to priesthood. He began seminary at Mount Angel in 2010 and in 2012 was sent to Rome to study at the Gregorian University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology. He was ordained a deacon in 2015, served for a year at St. Mary Parish in Eugene, and returned to Rome for a final year of formation. Fr. Zani Pacanza New assignment: Parochial vicar, St. James in McMinnville Previous assignment: Deacon year at St. Juan Diego in Portland He grew up as a sacristan and altar server in Manila, Philippines then obtained a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communication at the University of the Philippines-Diliman in 1999. From 1999 to 2002, he was a writer, reporter and segment producer for several news and public affairs programs of the ABS-CBN Broadcast Network. From 2003 to 2007, he worked as a communications trainer for customer service call center companies in Manila. Throughout school and his professional life, he has been an active member of different church groups, including Youth for Mary and Christ, U.P. Student Catholic Action and Singles for Christ. He entered Christ the King Mission Seminary in 2008. In 2011, he transferred to Mount Angel Seminary as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Portland. Deacon Pacanza’s pastoral ministry training has included assignments at Central Catholic High School in Portland, Star of the Sea Parish in Brookings, St. Edward Parish in Keizer, St. Rita Parish in Northeast Portland, St. Juan Diego Parish in Northwest Portland, St. Monica Parish in Coos Bay and St. Mary Parish in Mount Angel. He attended clinical pastoral education at the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. In the summer of 2015, he also did Spanish immersion in Mexico City under the Global Education program of the Catholic University of America. Fr. Henry Rufo New assignment: Parochial vicar, Holy Redeemer in North Bend, Holy Name in Coquille and Sts. Anne and Michael in Myrtle Point Previous assignment: On leave He was born in Cebu City, The Philippines, in 1965, one of eight children. He graduated from Holy Rosary School of Pardo, Cebu City in 1982 and received a bachelor of science degree in commerce and accounting from the University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines in 1987. He also studied at the Cebu Institute of Technology and at the University of Urbaniana in Rome, Italy. He entered Mount Angel Seminary in the fall of 1995 and was ordained a deacon in May 2000. His ministry training included assignments at St. Stephen in Portland, a pastoral year at St. John the Apostle in Oregon City and St. Anne in Grants Pass. He served as a deacon at St. Mary in Mount Angel. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Portland in 2001 and served as a parochial vicar at St. Anne in Grants Pass and Sacred Heart in Medford. Has was pastor at St. Helen in Sweet Home and most recently was pastor of Nativity in Rainier and St. John the Baptist in Clatskanie. Fr. Andrew Thomas New assignment: Parochial vicar, Holy Trinity in Beaverton Previous assignment: On leave He is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After teaching at Queen of Peace School in Salem for two years, he entered Mount Angel Seminary in 2000, earning a master of divinity degree in 2005. His ministry formation assignments took place at St. Joseph in Salem, St. Henry in Gresham, St. Clare in Portland and St. Paul in Silverton. He completed clinical pastoral education at St. Luke Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. “I feel God has put me into different situations, and each one had its positive, wonderful experiences,” he said before his ordination in 2005. He served as parochial vicar at Sacred Heart in Medford and Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Lake Oswego before being assigned as parish priest at Holy Trinity in Bandon in 2008. In 2010, he was named pastor of St. Mary Parish in Albany. NEW PASTORAL CENTER STAFF Msgr. Gerard O’Connor New assignment: Director of the Office of Divine Worship for the Archdiocese of Portland (Begins Sept. 1) Previous assignment: Pastor, St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet, Massachusetts A priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, he also has been a scientist and high-tech marketer. He earned a doctorate in sacred liturgy is from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm, the Benedictine university in Rome. Msgr. O’Connor was born in Hull, Yorkshire, in England in 1964. He attended Marist College High School and then Kingston University in London where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in applied physics. After university he began in marketing for the personal computer industry. He became a seminarian for the Diocese of Fall River in 1996 and was sent to Rome for priestly studies at the North American College. He was ordained in 2000 and was sent back to Rome to work for the Holy See as an official of the Congregation of the Clergy. He later served as parochial administrator of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Bedford and as an assistant priest at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville. He has been pastor in Acushnet since 2008. He will be in residence at St. Rose of Lima in Portland. Fr. Amalraj Rayappan New assignment: Judge in the Department of the Tribunal and Canonical Services for the Archdiocese of Portland (Begins Sept. 1) Previous assignment: Chancellor and judicial vicar for the Diocese of Tuticorin in India Born in 1972 in Kadakulam, India, he attended Catholic primary and secondary education before beginning minor seminary in 1989. He studied philosophy and theology at St. Peter Pontifical Seminary in Bangalore and was ordained in 1999. He holds a doctorate in canon law from Urbaniana University in Rome and a diploma in jurisprudence from the Gregorian University in Rome. He served in parishes from 1999 to 2008 and has held the chancellor’s position since 2012. He is fluent in English, good in Italian and Tamil is his mother language. He will be in residence at St. Anthony in Tigard. REASSIGNMENT GLOSSARY Pastor — He leads the parish as an extension of the ministry of the archbishop. Pastors are to teach, sanctify and govern for the good of souls in a certain geographical area. Pastors are to have ample experience as a priest, normally five years. Administrator — He leads the parish in the absence of a pastor. Because he does not have as much experience as a pastor, or for some other reason, he will receive help from archdiocesan authorities and his powers will be limited in areas deemed appropriate by the bishop. Parochial vicar — He shares in the pastoral care of the parish under direction of the pastor.

Prayers for Priests: June Birthdays

For five years I had the pleasure of being the Church Commission Chairman of the Archdiocesan Council of  Catholic Women (ACCW).  This devotion to priests had not been published in the Catholic Sentinel and as of 2007 these birthdays are shared with all Oregon Catholics.

I thank God that even in my short time with these wonderful women, this article has been included in  the Catholic Sentinel. 

Share 5/19/2017 9:37:00 AM A year of prayer for our priests “A Year of Prayer for our Priests” is a ministry of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women. We share the joy of this devotion with all Oregon Catholics. A day each month is set aside to pray for the names of priests serving in the Archdiocese of Portland. Please remember them and all priests, deacons and religious in your daily prayers. O, Jesus I pray for Your faithful and fervent priests, especially (name here). Keep them all close to Your heart and bless them abundantly in time and eternity. Amen June 1 — Discalaced Carmelite Fr. Thomas Koller  June 2 — Fr. Jack Krall June 3 — Fr. Robert Krueger  June 4 — Fr. Michael Kueber  June 5 — Fr. George Kuforiji  June 6 — Fr. Moises Kumulmac June 7 — St. John Society Fr. Lucas Laborde  June 8 — Fr. Theodore Lange  June 9 — Fr. Michael Lau June 10 — Jesuit Fr. James Laudwein  June 11 — Benedictine Fr. Basil Lawrence  June 12 — Fr. Tom Layton June 13 — Benedictine Fr. John Paul Le June 14 — Fr. Moises Leal Gonzalez  June 15 — Fr. Matthew Libra June 16 —Msgr. Charles Leinert, retired  June 17 — St. John Society Fr. Ignacio Liorente June 18 — Missionaries of the Holy Spirit Fr. Hugo Maese June 19 — Apostolic Life Fr. Paulinus Mangesho  June 20 — Apostles of Jesus Fr. Augustine Manyama  June 21— Apostolic Life Fr. Nicolaus Marandu  June 22 — Fr. Raul Marquez June 23 — Fr. John Marshall June 24 — Fr. Paul Mawatzo Materu  June 25 — Fr. James Mayo June 26 — Trappist Abbot Peter McCarthy  June 27— Jesuit Fr. Thomas McCarthy June 28 — Holy Cross Fr. Charles McCoy  June 29 — Fr. John McGrann June 30 — Fr. John McGuire, retired

Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, Passes Away: She Never Had an Abortion and Became Pro-Life

Norma McCorvey, who was the Jane Roe of the infamous Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court case legalizing virtually unlimited abortions, passed away today. McCorvey never had an abortion and eventually became pro-life and dedicated her life to overturning the horrible Supreme Court decision that bared her pseudonym.

McCorvey died today at an assisted-living facility in Katy, Texas. She was 69.

McCorvey never wanted an abortion — she was seeking a divorce from her husband — but young, pro-abortion feminist attorney Sarah Weddington used McCorvey’s case as a means of attempting to overturn Texas’ law making most abortions illegal. Weddington took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, which invalidated every pro-life state law in the nation protecting unborn children and the rest is history.

But most Americans don’t know that McCorvey, who was “pro-choice” on abortion at the time, became a pro-life advocate. She dedicated to reversing the Supreme Court case that bears her fictitious name, Jane Roe.

In a video, McCorvey explained her effort to obtain a legal abortion in the 1970s when facing an unplanned pregnancy. However, she never had an abortion and realized that her court case was the biggest mistake of her life and currently fights to stop abortion.

“Back in 1973, I was a very confused twenty-one year old with one child and facing an unplanned pregnancy,” she says in the ad. “At the time I fought to obtain a legal abortion, but truth be told, I have three daughters and never had an abortion.”

“I think it’s safe to say that the entire abortion industry is based on a lie…. I am dedicated to spending the rest of my life undoing the law that bears my name,” McCorvey says.
She concludes the 60 second ad with the words: “You read about me in history books, but now I am dedicated to spreading the truth about preserving the dignity of all human life from natural conception to natural death.”

As pro-life attorney Casey Mattox wrote at LifeNews.com previously:

There is a 46-year-old woman, born in Texas, who should be dead right now. In fact, she should have never been born. Forty years ago, the Supreme Court decided that the Texas law that prevented Jane Roe from ending the life of her unborn daughter was unconstitutional. But by the time the Supreme Court issued its decision in 1973, she had already been born and adopted by a family—likely not knowing that all that ink spilled in Roe v. Wade was about her.

Norma McCorvey is “Jane Roe.” She claimed then that her pregnancy was the result of a rape, although for over a decade now she has been outspokenly pro-life and publicly admitted that this, and virtually every fact on which her case was built, was a lie. Both McCorvey and Sandra Cano, the Doe of Doe v. Bolton—Roe’s companion case from Georgia decided the same day—are now outspoken pro-life advocates who have sworn that their cases are built on lies.

But before the Supreme Court could decide whether McCorvey did have a constitutional right to end her unborn daughter’s life, it had to overcome a procedural obstacle that slowed down the process—a delay that factored into whether her daughter would ever have a family.

Because of that delay, McCorvey had already had the child by the time the Supreme Court issued its decision in January 1973. She had been adopted into a Texas home, perhaps somewhere in the Dallas area where McCorvey lived. The court nevertheless said that McCorvey’s case was not moot since her circumstances were “capable of repetition” because courts would never be able to decide the question during the time of a woman’s pregnancy.

Procedural history is never the exciting part of a lawsuit. But for McCorvey’s unborn daughter, the dry complexity of legal procedure is the reason she exists today. Fortunately for a three-year old girl, “the wheels of justice grind slowly,” and by the time the court issued its decision, a Texas family had adopted her. If the courts could have moved more quickly, she (and her family) would have never had that chance. Lemonade comes from lemons.

It is unknown to me whether the adoptive family ever even knew that their daughter was the supposedly unwanted child who was the subject of Roe. As far as we know, they raised her not knowing who she was and certainly never telling her.

On the left side of God: How politics and religion mix in the world of charitable giving.

  VOCAL:  Since EWTN's special programming of  "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" in late 2016, we are learning more about Saul Alinsky and CCHD.  Reform CCHD Now and Catholic Media Coalition are considered a "right-wing fringe element", conducting a "witch-hunt" against CCHD.  These descriptive phrases are uttered by Street Roots director Israel Baer 

by Street Roots | 22 Sep 2010
 

On the left side of God: How politics and religion mix in the world of charitable giving

By Joanne Zuhl, Staff Writer

 

 A 4-inch-square, 96-page booklet once was considered the embodiment of social justice and empowerment of the poor, and for years, its publisher attracted financial backing from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development through the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon.
The local Catholic Campaign — a private nonprofit foundation operated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops — helped launch the booklet with a $5,000 grant in 2008, making sure information on health care, shelter, employment and supportive services was in the hands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty.
That was until this spring, when a call to the office of Justice and Peace of the Archdiocese of Portland pointed out the offense on page 25. There, under the category of health care, was a listing for Planned Parenthood, which in a half-inch space included a description of the various basic services, including contraception, that the organization provides to low- or no-income customers seeking health care.

The message from CCHD managers at the Portland Archdiocese, although supportive of the booklet’s overall mission, was made clear in terms of funding: If Planned Parenthood remained in the booklet, CCHD, in keeping with Catholic teaching, could no longer fund Street Roots, the publisher of the Rose City Resource guide. Street Roots decided to keep the listing.

But what was behind the call? Why now? What changed after five years of CCHD support for Street Roots? How did a piece of information suddenly morph into a theological offense?

Starting in autumn 2009, other groups began asking the same questions. The Chinese Progressive Association in San Francisco was among the first to get the call: CCHD, which was one of the founding funders for the 38-year-old Association, had to cut ties with the workers’ rights program. Also in California, the Young Workers United was told it was being cut from funding as well, as was the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, which helps homeless and disadvantaged women who have children. L.A. Community Action Network was "defunded" at its own request after CCHD tried to censor its newspaper. Women in Transition in Louisville, Ky., had its grant rescinded, and Preble Resource Center, which serves homeless youths in Portland, Maine, was ordered to return to CCHD funds for its Homeless Voices for Justice program. In Oregon, Children First for Oregon, a child advocacy group for vulnerable children, was culled from the list of grantees earlier this year.

Besides CCHD’s support, and beyond the commonality of their missions, these groups share something else: They were all targeted, investigated and determined unfit by a campaign of Catholic conservative groups that, via the prolific capacity of the Internet, have formed a nationwide coalition calling for the defunding of more than 50 poverty-alleviation organizations, and a radical overhaul — and even disbandment — of CCHD.

To date (2010), 10 U.S. bishops, an unprecedented number by Catholic news reports, have publicly suspended their annual, mandatory collection among parishioners for CCHD because of claims that CCHD funded “anti-Catholic” organizations. The allegations by the group called“Reform CCHD Now” against grantees begin as crimes against the Catholic Church for supporting abortion and gay-rights issues, and extend to direct attacks on community organizing and social empowerment. It could be dismissed as a fringe element, if not for the use of the campaign by politically vested parties to discredit, disrupt and defund the work of community organizing groups long-supported and heralded by U.S. bishops.

This year, Catholic Campaign for Human Development celebrated 40 years of funding community programs that address the root causes of homelessness and poverty. Nationwide, it has distributed more than $400 million in self-help grants to 8,000 agencies across the United States, making it the nation’s largest private funder of self-help groups for the poor.

CCHD is a rarity in the world of charitable investment in that it does not fund direct services like its faith-based counterparts, Catholic Charities or St. Vincent DePaul. Instead, CCHD’s grantees are organizations that work to foster systemic change through partnering with common-cause groups and community organizing. Because of its role in community organizing projects, the Portland Archdiocese is considered a core funder of poverty-alleviation and empowerment projects in Oregon and a voice among faith-based efforts to shape policy around social-service needs in Multnomah County.

The attacks by Reform CCHD Now and its followers are prompting a “review and renewal” process by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which prepares to meet later this month. What the bishops decide could have major consequences for the thousands of cash-strapped nonprofits that CCHD supports, and the millions of poor and disenfranchised people who rely on these programs that today serve as proxy to government initiatives.

‘Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom’

In the summer of 2009, the Texas-based Bellarmine Veritas Ministry, an opaque “Catholic grass-roots organizing ministry” traceable to one man, Rob Gasper, released an investigation into CCHD grantees. This June, the Virginia-based American Life League released a report echoing Bellarmine’s conclusions: that CCHD was funding what it called “anti-Catholic organizations” based upon the grantees’ actions and the actions of their partners and affiliates. These groups called on parishioners to boycott their donations to CCHD until the bishops revise the granting oversight. The groups specifically target 50 organizations they are demanding the CCHD stops funding.

These reports surfaced during the thick of the health care reform debate, a flagship in President Obama’s agenda, which the bishops opposed over abortion issues. In fact, the reformers singled out the bill and demanded that any grantees that supported the health care reform legislation “must state clearly and publicly that they will not promote any piece of legislation which gives federal support to abortion or family planning.”

Bellarmine, American Life League and Human Life International, also based in Virginia, are the three primary organizations behind Reform CCHD Now, although Reform CCHD Now claims more than 20 organizations working on behalf of the nationwide campaign. These three groups have driven the reform movement to viral levels online with blogs and video and through the multitude of online Catholic and pro-life news services, including LifeNews.com and LifeSiteNews.com.

“We started forming the coalition when we found very anti-Catholic things being funded by Catholics,” says Stephen Phelan, communications manager with Human Life International.  “Michael Hitchborn (with American Life League) wanted to meet and they refused, and Bellarmine also tried and didn’t a get a response. So everybody went public with it.”

“Because of the Internet, we’ve been able to get the information out to much more people in a much shorter period of time,” says Michael Hitchborn, a researcher with the pro-life organization American Life League. “Which is why the CCHD is finding it much harder to hide with their tactics they’ve been using.”

Those tactics, according to Hitchborn, are to fund groups that do not conform to Catholic teaching, deny that they are “anti-Catholic” groups, and then continue funding with the complications essentially swept under the rug. Many of the organizations already defunded this past year were longtime recipients of CCHD funding, and praised for their work in building cross-community partnerships and networks to fight the causes of poverty. However, it’s those partnerships that factor into nearly all of the groups singled out by the reform movement. In fact, more than 30 groups reformers want defunded are listed because they are members of the Center for Community Change, a D.C.-based cross-community organizing movement that stopped receiving CCHD funding in 2001.

“That’s a problem because there’s no accountability,” Hitchborn says. “The groups that are receiving CCHD money are getting trained by (Center for Community Change), which means they are being trained in cross-issues advocacy. And that’s a problem. So what we called for is an immediate disassociation from (Center for Community Change) for any group receiving CCHD money.”
Hitchborn says he will continue investigating organizations to weed out the grantees and says he’s working on a new report for release soon, as the bishops conference and the annual CCHD collection approaches.

“Because of the long history of CCHD funding errant organizations, there’s no way that we could let up,” Hitchborn says. “Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. And if we are going to make sure that an organization that claims to be Catholic remains Catholic, they need to adhere to Catholic teaching.”

‘We didn’t even do anything wrong’
For nearly four decades, the San Francisco-based Chinese Progressive Association organized the Chinese and Asian immigrant community, including thousands of restaurant workers who received less than minimum wage or were living in the margins. With the support of CCHD, the organization engaged workers to successfully raise San Francisco’s minimum wage from $6.75 to $8.50, and in 2006, helped lead the charge for all workers in the city to receive paid sick leave. This work, along with its housing program, youths and environmental justice work, and its workers center, was funded by CCHD for years. But by September, the local CCHD said the relationship was over. It was pulling the plug on $30,000 it had granted to the organization’s worker center.

“They called me and they said they needed to talk, says Alex T. Tom, the Chinese Progressive Association’s executive director, “that people were getting ready for the bishops meeting in the fall and they were fanning the flames and pushing CCHD to resolve the issue.”

The issue was the Association’s publication of a voter pamphlet that opposed California’s Propositions 8 and 4, which banned same-sex marriages and required parental notification for some abortions. It was an effort that had nothing to do with the CCHD’s funding, which was specifically allocated for the organization’s Worker Center.

“It was right when the economic crisis happened,” Tom says. “It was really poor form, poor taste and very bad timing when they decided to revoke the funding.”

“In general, worker centers don’t have the easiest time. Anti-poverty work is not something that is heavily supported,” Tom says. “That was why CCHD was important. It helped us build a movement. And now we have to find a consistent revenue stream that doesn’t rely on support that we used to receive from CCHD.”

Preble Street in Portland, Maine, received CCHD grants for 13 years for its work in empowering the homeless, most recently a $30,000 grant in 2009. However, it was defunded at the end of 2009 and asked to return unspent grant money to CCHD because the organization joined the campaign against a measure to overturn the state’s same-sex marriage law.

For Preble Street, it was an extension of their advocacy for rights and opportunities for the homeless youths within the GBLT the organization cares for and supports. The CCHD grant, however, actually was awarded to Preble Street’s project called Homeless Voices for Justice, which works for social change on behalf of -- and with the leadership of — people in poverty and homelessness. Homeless Voices did not participate in the campaign on the law. However, as Homeless Voices’ fiscal agent, Preble Street was called to return funding, and did so with a $2,400 check.

 In a letter to CCHD Director Ralph McCloud, Preble Street Executive Director Mark Swann defended his group’s position: “Throughout our history, when Preble Street and Homeless Voices for Justice have taken differing positions, there has never been any effort to force or stifle the opinion of the other. Indeed, regardless of Preble Street’s point of view, we have chosen to facilitate the expressions of opposing positions such as those of (Homeless Voices) by the support we offer them — embodying the principles of CCHD social justice teachings.

“Punishing Homeless Voices by demanding the return of much-needed funds because of Preble Street’s advocacy around issues of social justice is deeply troubling,” Swann wrote. “It is unfortunate that the CCHD and the local Diocese is choosing not to be part of these important efforts.”
Women in Transition in Louisville, Ky., is but a shadow of its former self after CCHD rescinded a $25,000 grant at the end of 2009. Women in Transition runs skill-building programs for at-risk women and organizes on issues of affordable housing and health care. CCHD was a sponsor of the organization since 2005, until this past year when it received a letter from someone pointing out Women in Transition’s relationship with Wench Self-Care Collective, a local women’s health organization. Wench is pro-choice, and has helped escort women to and from the city’s abortion clinic, but it also focuses on women’s nutrition and education around healthy eating habits, which is where Women in Transition and Wench crossed paths. Women in Transition says it never worked with Wench on reproductive rights, just healthy eating, cooking classes and health fairs.

Women in Transition’s executive director, Khalilah Collins, says her organization had received CCHD grants for $20,000 and $25,000 each year since 2005. The 2009 fall grant for $25,000 had been approved and the check in the hands of their fiscal sponsor, Catholic Charities, but it was never delivered. Collins says she was told by Catholic Charities that unless she signed a letter saying that her organization regretted the situation and would not work with the Wench group or any other group whose mission contradicted Catholic teaching, the money was in jeopardy. It was more than a third of the organization’s budget, and money they had counted on.
“The more I thought about it, the more upset I got,” Collins says. “We didn’t even do anything wrong.”
(Collins says there were also questions about their 501(c)3 status, but that had not disrupted funding before.)
Collins didn’t write the letter. “I felt that our integrity was questioned as an organization, and all we have is our integrity and our voice, and you’re questioning that,” she says. “We can’t be a part of that.”

Collins says she never knew who wrote the letter about Wench, and that the relationship is not even traceable through Women in Transition’s website. However, by November, just before the 2009 collection for CCHD, Women in Transition and others were singled out in a press release by the American Life League and others within Reform CCHD Now for ties to Planned Parenthood, which led a workshop at an event the organization-co-sponsored with Spalding University.

“It’s not about WIT and Wenches,” Collins says. “We’ve never done any work on choice at all. We steer clear of that number one thing because we know we could lose our funding.”
But the funding is gone. “We have no money right now. None. I didn’t get paid last week, the rent hasn’t been paid, because we’re out of money,” Collins says.

‘It’s taking away care from those who need it’
“These are politically motivated attacks,” says Chris Korzen, executive director of D.C.-based Catholics United, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization doing online advocacy and education programs around the Catholic Social Tradition. “And they fit into this broader narrative that we’re unfortunately seeing in our system now, where social change is limited to charity and not actually fixing social structures that cause poverty and other problems.”

The intent of these attacks, Korzen says, is to demonize community organizing behind the arguments against abortion and same-sex marriage. That’s the end result of what this campaign is doing,” Korzen says. “It’s taking away care from those who need it.”

A Catholic himself, Korzen says Catholic social teaching is being hijacked by political agendas.
“This hyper-individualism that some are pushing in a political context does not have a lot of support in Catholic social teaching,” Korzen says. “So, essentially what we’re seeing is groups who are using Catholic teaching to promote what really is a secular agenda.”

It’s not a new thing, Korzen says. Indeed, CCHD for decades has had its critics. But today it gets the added boost of leveraging political gains with a galvanized voting block, further inflamed by the personalities parading through our ever-expanding media options.

“For sure, we’ve seen a movement to the right in Catholic institutional settings, and I’d even go as far to say there are some elements of the Catholic institutions and some parts of the (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) that have essentially been taken over by the Republican Party. That sounds like a strong statement, but it’s the truth. Over the years, the conservative movement has worked very hard to cultivate support in the Catholic churches.”

Case in point, Korzen says, is the U.S. bishops’ opposition to the health care reform bill, which was singled out as a defundable offense by the reformers, “even though the Catholic Church believes that health care is a human right,” Korzen says. “That never would have happened in the 1980s.”

In response to the reformers’ investigations and allegations, bishops across the country have issued statements in defense of CCHD’s operations, including Archbishop John Vlazny of the Portland Diocese. Vlazny wrote on the issue in the Catholic Sentinal in late 2009, prior to Street Roots being defunded.

“Once again this year objections have been raised to the Campaign because some CCHD-funded groups have taken actions in conflict with CCHD guidelines after they were funded,” Vlazny writes. “… When the facts were confirmed, the groups were defunded. Other allegations were raised, but the charges proved to be inaccurate or a misunderstanding had occurred. Mistakes are made, they are quickly corrected. But the negative voices drone on, and I suspect their problems are more political than religious.” (I disagree with Archbishop Emeritus Vlazny on this.  Street Roots was filled with infractions, but I think we still fund it from time to time VO

Ralph McCloud, the executive director of CCHD based in Washington D.C., says CCHD isn’t beholding to the partisan arguments behind the attacks. “We go to where poor people are, where nobody else wants to go, to let them speak boldly. I think we’re somewhere boldly embedded between the right and the left, and neither one of them can have a claim on it,” McCloud says.
McCloud says he cannot go into details on the upcoming review and renewal of CCHD, which will be conducted by the bishops, but that it will look at ways CCHD’s funding process can be more “responsive to the needs of the contemporary current realities,” McCloud says.

“I think where it gets murky sometimes is when people are in coalitions with a group where their main focus is somewhere else,” McCloud says. “That’s one of the things hoping to come out of the review and renewal process. We’re securing assistance from folks who are theologians and ethicists to find where the line is so we’re not arbitrary in our decisions.”

Just as the reform campaign proliferated on the blogosphere last summer, Matt Cato was hired to head the Portland Archdiocese Office of Justice and Peace, which administers the local CCHD funding process. With his appointment in August, 2009, the office merged with the Archdiocese’s Respect Life Activities Office. By early December, CCHD informed Children First for Oregon that it would not be considered for future grants because of its 2006 opposition of a measure to require parental notification for minors seeking abortion. Cato said Children First has the support of the Archdiocese, but that the group could not receive CCHD funds.

Children’s First advocates on behalf of children in foster care, living in poverty, those who need health care and those suffering from abuse or neglect.
Children First declined to talk on the record about the situation, but Cato said it could not longer be funded by CCHD because of its opposition to the measure, even in cases of incest or abuse.
“The bishops do not recognize any exception to abortion,” Cato says.

Those are doctrinal objections for the Catholic Church. Cato says he has no contact with the groups attacking CCHD, but that he is familiar with the more political ideologies behind their motivation.
“I’m not speaking for these organizations, but I do know that plenty of people are uncomfortable when a group of low-income or poor persons have power,” Cato says. “So you have the power of money, which corporations have, and you have the power of people, which is what community organizing is. The power of people which needs to balance the power of money, and that’s what community organizing is about, and a lot of people are uncomfortable with the poor having the voice.” ( TOTALLY disagree.  VOCAL)

‘I’m not attacking social justice’
Stephen Phelan, communications manager with Human Life International, denies any political agenda to the reform movement.
“It’s easy to confuse what we’re saying with a political message,” Phelan says “We’re not out to get anybody. We want to see real Catholic teaching take hold.”

Phelan says that what has changed, from groups receiving years of funding from CCHD to being considered inappropriate and defunded, is the political backdrop.

“I think when (CCHD) first started, it made more sense for Catholics to align with the more liberal (groups),” Phelan says. “The Democratic side of the coin was doing good work back then. It wasn’t all these other things — anti-marriage, abortion, and Marxism. So what’s happened in the last 40 years is the same groups that were once pretty cool to work with have gotten more radically political, and the CCHD has continued to work with them, and been opposed to the church on a lot of these issues. After a couple of decades, it’s like, really? What are you guys thinking?”

Regardless of Phelan’s intentions or viewpoint, the criticism and condemnation of CCHD has for decades been framed by politics. In the 1980s and ’90s, former political appointees from the Nixon and Reagan administrations painted CCHD as a political arm of the liberal agenda. One appointee distributed a paper saying CCHD used Catholic money to prop up “leftist political activists plotting to destroy our economic system” and told Catholics to instead give their money to direct services. Others have said CCHD promotes a “political agenda far to the left of mainstream America,” Repeated attacks conclude that people should not give money to CCHD because its mission is not charity, but rather social justice.

“I have gotten a lot of feedback from people who are both excited and angry about the research that I’ve done,” American Life League’s Hitchborn says. “It’s interesting. The people who write me that are angry say I can’t believe that you are arguing against the bishops. They don’t address the concerns, they say, ‘Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking social justice?’ I’m not attacking social justice.”

A more recent voice to the opposition to CCHD has been Deal W. Hudson, the former director of Catholic outreach for George W. Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns, and now the director of InsideCatholic.com. He has advanced the Reform CCHD Now, citing its defunding campaign in his writings online, and added among those to be defunded the attendees to the U.S. Social Forum 2010 that included workshops on reproductive and gay rights.

“One criticism leveled at the CCHD Reform Now research is that it was alleging ‘guilt by association.’ But that misses the point completely,” Hudson writes. “The presence of 21 CCHD grantees at U.S. Social Forum isn’t problematic because grantees are keeping company with the wrong people, but because they’re actively participating in a forum designed ‘to set a national action agenda.’ Looking at the program, it’s safe to assume that the agenda includes the right to abortion and gay marriage, as well as a larger ideological commitment to various forms of Marxism — an ideology condemned by the Catholic Church.”

The Catholic Media Coalition, another Catholic news source, for years has pushed to revamp CCHD, and calls for Catholics to boycott giving money to the charity because “The good groups funded by CCHD are not sufficient to balance the many evil groups supported, groups working for socialism by electing liberal politicians. CCHD helped to give us the radical, left-wing Congress we have today.”

Compare that to celebrity pundit Glenn Beck, who told followers earlier this year that that if they find the words “social justice” or “economic justice” on their church website, to “run as fast as you can.
“Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes! … If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish,” Beck said.

“One of the effects of this, too, is essentially these folks are saying to a new generation of Catholics who still believe in social justice that you’re not welcome here anymore,” Korzen says. “It’s going to shift demographics, where folks who still believe in social justice are just not considering themselves Catholic anymore. I saw that growing up as an altar boy in Rhode Island. From the perspective of the Catholic community, which should be a diverse community across racial and cultural lines; I don’t want to be a part of a church that builds itself as an exclusive club. It’s damaging to the church, as is any attempts to use Catholic teaching as a political battering ram. And we just see more of that every day.”

‘There’s a point where you’ve got to draw a line’

Matt Cato with the Portland Archdiocese office of Justice and Peace and Respect for Life, says that the reform movement’s attacks on CCHD have not changed how they consider grantees. However, Cato says he has added a line to the local CCHD grant application.

“We still look at the same criteria. It’s always been on the application do you act in accordance of the teachings of the Catholic Church. I just added to that, can you tell me the ballot measures that you or your executive director has supported in the last five years. That was an easy one to have missed. It’s usually not on someone’s Web site.”

The decision came after learning of Children First For Oregon’s position on Measuren 43.
Still, Cato maintains that there are differences between material and proximate relationships between organizations that would determine if a group is eligible for funding.

“There’s a point where you’ve got to draw a line. Just because the organization does this here or is associated with another organization, it doesn’t mean this organization is tainted,” Cato says.
Planned Parenthood, however, is the exception.

Since 2005, Street Roots has received $40,000 from CCHD for the newspaper, the Rose City Resource guide and for the eastside expansion to open a remote office for vendors. In all those years, Planned Parenthood has been a part of its listings (prior to 2008, the Rose City Resource was included as a part of the newspaper). Likewise, Street Roots has always included information on organizations helping at-risk gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual youths and adults. Planned Parenthood is a “nuclear” red flag in the Catholic Church, Cato says. It is simply too hot to handle.
“I’m not going to tell you how to run your business, you guys do great work,” Cato told this interview. “You make the decision in future resource guides to include that information or not, and if you include (Planned Parenthood), we can’t give you a CCHD grant.” Cato says.

Cato says there is room for working together, regardless of whether CCHD is funding a program.
“Jesus had dinner with the tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners,” Cato says. “You just can’t completely separate your self with those you completely disagree with. As Catholics, we’re called to evangelize, not preach to the choir.”

(Street Roots has not been asked to return any funding from CCHD)

“It’s disturbing that a small group of right-wing fringe elements within the Catholic Church are being successful at undermining the Catholic Campaign for Human Development’s work to address the root causes of poverty through promotion and support of community-controlled, self-help organizations and through transformative education,” says Street Roots Executive Director Israel Bayer.

“At the end of the day, a witch hunt is a witch hunt, and that’s exactly what Street Roots and dozens of community organizations working to fight poverty in the United States are facing, a witch hunt born out of fear and intolerance. And let’s be clear, this is far from over. Every group that currently receives funds from CCHD is being asked to not take part in activities, or align themselves with the very groups it will take to dismantle poverty in this country. In our case, the very tool is the Rose City Resource guide. The guide gives people experiencing homelessness and poverty a chance to become their own advocates through education, and now it’s being used against us because we have chosen to deliver to people, without judgment, the resources that are available to them in our community.
“Saying that, we’re not defeated,” Bayer says. “Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that one of the groups defunded in this fiasco was a community newspaper like Street Roots that takes its journalism seriously enough to tell the whole story, and get it out to the broader public for a larger debate."

Sidebar:
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) was founded in 1970 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is the anti-poverty, social justice arm of the Catholic Church, with a mission to address the causes of poverty through community-controlled, self-help organizations and education. Each year, CCHD distributes about $12 million to between 250 and 300 social justice organizations in the United States. 

For years, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development supported the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, ACORN. However allegations against various ACORN franchises in 2008 and 2009 turned the nationwide community organizing group into a pariah, and CCHD cut off all funding for ACORN organizations, locally and nationally. ACORN was recently acquitted in New York of any wrongdoing surrounding the pimp/prostitution videotape scandal, the most salacious accusations against an ACORN franchise.

More from Bill Diss: Catholic Public School Teacher Forced to Facilitate Planned Parenthood Program.

We recently received a disappointing ruling in the case of Bill Diss, a Portland, Oregon public school teacher who was fired after he objected to facilitating a Planned Parenthood sex education program in his classroom. The judge granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, which means the case cannot go before a jury. Life Legal https://lifelegaldefensefoundation.org/

(side note from VOCAL.  David Daleiden who was sued for being part of the Baby Body Parts videos which exposed this evil, is part of the organization helping Bill)

Bill Diss became “enemy number one” with his local Planned Parenthood affiliate when he led opposition to a new PP mega-facility in downtown Portland.

When Planned Parenthood employees wanted to come into Diss’ classroom to recruit students for their “Teen Outreach Program,” or TOP.    Diss said no.  TOP is a federally-funded sex ed program that targets children as young as 10 years old. Diss respectfully asked to be excused from facilitating the program, as the content violated his religious convictions.


The school refused and then fired Mr. Diss.

The same Planned Parenthood affiliate was caught on video giving a 15-year-old girl advice on how to access pornography and engage in dangerous, deviant sexual acts.(we will not be showing the video because of the content VOCAL)

The lower court ruled that teachers like Mr. Diss should not be afforded the full protection of the Constitution when they have religious objections to teaching content that violates their most deeply held beliefs.

Life Legal vehemently disagrees and we have filed notice to appeal the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. We are honored to represent Bill Diss and we will continue to fight for his First Amendment rights.

So far the Archdiocese has remained quiet regarding this issue, except for Archbishop John Vlazny in 2013 who wrote a letter of support for the Archdiocese.

Prayer request from Bill Diss.  His daughter and a niece are pregnant and he would like your prayers for mothers, children and for great health for all.

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