CMR kudos to Portland Archbishop John Vlazny and a Catholic charity in Oregon which split with the United Way over the organization’s funding of Planned Parenthood.
This is a brave and correct decision that will I’m sure be misreported in the media as the Catholics turning their backs on the poor in favor of the unborn. But this is exactly the kind of decision which should inspire us all because it shows that the same impulse to help the poor is tied in with the defense of the helpless unborn.
The Register Guard reports:
The Catholic Community Services Board has decided to immediately forswear the use of United Way dollars for its charity work because United Way of Lane County gives money to Planned Parenthood.
The discussion began in March after Archbishop John Vlazny of the Portland Archdiocese visited Eugene to sprinkle holy water around the 58-year-old charity’s new Sixth Avenue service center for homeless and low-income clients.
The visit came just before Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon began its first-time offering of the abortion pill, RU-486, which some church leaders regard as the moral equivalent of surgical abortion.
The archbishop advised Catholic Community Services to contact United Way and explain its objections to Planned Parenthood, said Bud Bunce, archdiocese spokesman.
“If there was going to be no changes made, his recommendation was they (Catholic Community Services) would need to withdraw from United Way,” Bunce said. “Planned Parenthood is now offering abortion services in Lane County. Abortions are contrary to Catholic moral teachings.”
The Catholic Community Services board voted at its meeting earlier this month to sever ties with United Way, which had been a partner in serving the poor in Lane County for at least two decades.
This is a financial blow to the organization as the United Way allocated $71,000 to Catholic Community Services, which was set to provide help to the poor.
But this is the kind of decision that can and should inspire parishioners to give to the charity. Priests around the archdiocese will I hope explain it.
Planned Parenthood has insisted publicly that none of the money they receive from the United Way goes towards abortion funding but that’s just a shell game that Archbishop Vlazny saw right through. Archdiocese spokesman Bud Bunce said “Catholic Community Services could be seen to raise money in their promotional efforts for United Way and could be seen as raising money for Planned Parenthood in that way.”
Let’s hope other Catholic charities are inspired by this decision and follow suit. You simply can’t help the poor by turning your back on the unborn. We are called to stand up for the helpless. All of them.
December 29, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Hooray for Bp. Vlazey! Along with Bp. Olmstead, he has joined the ranks of bishops with guts to be a bishop who will actually follow and enforce Catholic teachings. May their tribe increase!
December 29, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Hooray!
December 29, 2010 at 6:27 pm
If more Bishops did this things would be different. I mean different for the better. And by better I mean WAY BETTER!
December 29, 2010 at 6:35 pm
God bless him! I'm from Oregon and this is encouraging news.
December 29, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Planned Parenthood has insisted publicly that none of the money they receive from the United Way goes towards abortion funding but that's just a shell game that Archbishop Vlazny saw right through.
Any sentient being familiar with the term "fungibility" should understand what a crock this line is, nd it's amazing that Planned Death continues to push it. Kudos to the Archbishop for doing the right thing.
December 29, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Why don't catholic bishops seek the testimony of those
who have had their marriage destroyed through the
interference of priests who have "suggested" divorce
as the gateway to annulments?
Why then do they not "severe" their relationship to those
priests? Then, why do they not do the same for canon lawyers
and others who, on behalf of the Church, waive annulments
in the faces of those experiencing marital difficulties, knowing
full well the hell that awaits the spouse who might be innocent
or who might actually(shriek it cannot be!) believe their
marriage just might be a valid sacrament.
I am tired of the "Bistro Bishops" who seem to push abortion
as the only deadly sin and ignore what is going on in the
Catholic Church regarding marriage and the "adultery
indulgence" otherwise known as annulments.
When I was a young man divorce was high on the Catholic
"Hit Parade of Sin", now, divorce is neutral, even good and
all marital crimes are justifiable under the rubric of
nullity.
Now, back to abortion…the only "serious sin" remaining in
the Catholic Lexicon of correctness. Go Bistro Bishops,
especially those who are critical of "Cafeteria Catholics" and
who disavow the blood of broken families on their own
hands that their pastoral practices are, in more than a few
cases directly responsible for!
December 29, 2010 at 11:42 pm
It's pretty funny that "anonymous" – who for the moment I am going to assume is regular Catholic blog nuisance Karl – is bleating about others being obsessed with single issues.
December 30, 2010 at 12:50 am
What took so long? Archbishop Philip Pocock, four Archbishops ago, did this in Toronto in the 1970's and created ShareLife.
Did the United Way just now start to fund Planned Parenthood?
Well, better late than never, I suppose.
Kudos to the Bishop.
December 30, 2010 at 5:41 am
I would faint if our local Catholic Charities ever did anything like this! I am so hopeful that this signals that Portland's Bishop/Catholic Charities has actually read "Caritas in Veritate" & is putting it into practice. I'm referencing the point the Pope makes about the Church's teaching on pro-life & social justice issues are two sides of the same coin (my words) & are not opposed to each other or two ends of the spectrum.
December 30, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Anonymous, if you know of priests who are doing what you describe, have you taken this issue to their bishop? If not, then you are a part of the problem.
December 31, 2010 at 1:47 am
I wonder if Mr. Zummo ruminates upon
the "obsession" of oncologists who tend
to focus on cancer, apparently way too
much.
Your response to anonymous/Karl or
whomever has nothing to do with what
was said and belies a possible problem
you may have with a little thing called
justice and how its denial is quite
serious and should be obvious to you
or any person who is Catholic and
is familiar with what the Church teaches.
If there is injustice, as the accusation
seems to allege and if, it is not being
addressed, to criticize, as you have, a
person who repeatedly seeks justice,
which for all we know may very well
be being actively denied, as they should,
then you, yourself, may be an integral
party to supporting continued injustice.
I do hope you have considered this.
Perhaps the best way to silence criticizm
regarding alleged injustices in the Church
is to do whatever can be done to assure
that alleged injutices are, actually, addressed.
To presume that such has been done, may
very well, be a serious error.
December 31, 2010 at 3:01 am
Karl never shuts up about his tale of woe, and as far as I can tell, has never done any self examination as to why a tribunal thought HE was not able to give consent to a truly mutual self giving in marriage. The rigidity he displays all over the internet is a clear clue to me. But Rome reversed his annulment, after his wife had already received the annulment and remarried. To be honest, I would not have gone back under these circumstances either. But I am doing a lot of reading between the lines of his frequent posts, and I admit I have no real knowledge of the situation. No one who just reads his various posts does. I really wish he would stop telling the world about it, and resolve to do something really good with his life, even though he feels this great injustice has been done to him. Remedy the injustice being done to some other folks. Go build an orphanage or a school in Africa or South America. Rescue South American street kids. Maybe natural fatherhood was taken from you so that you can have some kind of spiritual fatherhood that way. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life hijacking internet threads with your whining? Even if you were right, there would be no good in that.
Now back to Catholic Charities, United Way, and Planned Parenthood. When I brought this up to the pastor of the local parish, all he said was that United Way was a big funder of his parish school. Maybe, when we get a new bishop something will be done about this, not before.
Susan Peterson
January 1, 2011 at 6:14 pm
I came upon this on the net today.
I have to imagine that this is the fruit of what has
mentioned here:
http://www.google.com/m/url?ei=VGwfTZCtC6aclQfSlo8R&gl=us&q=http://semihorrible.livejournal.com/349442.html&source=mog&tbs=blg:1,qdr:w&ved=0CBkQmAEwATgU&usg=AFQjCNEJMV3USwSI96jEYpIsjwAZHiHDxg
January 3, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Matthew … what do you mean when you call it a "shell game"?
January 16, 2011 at 4:04 pm
This isn't even close to right. This is just ignorant thinking. I say ignorant because the word means "without understanding" or in the dark.
No where is the bible does it say you cannot accept money to help others no matter where that money comes from, not even vaguely. It does say to love others as you would yourself. So the important thing, or what really matters isn't where the money came from, but where it's going! In this case feeding people!
It's just so typical of the Catholic's (like the Jews) trying to earn their salvation by their moral high ground or good deeds. The bible speaks clearly about this, you cannot earn, buy or trade for salvation. Salvation is a gift, it is by grace (grace: is unmerited favor) you receive. It is given by God and only by God! God gives it in spite of the fact that NOT one of us on planet earth deserve it. As a matter of fact it's just the opposite, we are indebted to God up to our eyeballs, its death we deserve!
The Catholic Priests do NOT teach the word of God. They teach what they decide is right according to them not scripture. It is the word of God that teaches what is right or wrong not the church or a Catholic Priest! I will pray for all Catholic's that God will enlighten them to the real truth. God's!