Catholics United

Last updated

Catholics United is a U.S.-based non-profit 501(c)(4) non-partisan political organization, that states that it is "dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good found at the heart of the Catholic social teaching." [1] The group claims a total membership of 50,000. [2] Though not affiliated and without any official status within the Catholic Church, it has had a significant effect on the religious and political debate in the U.S. [3]

Contents

Catholics United has attracted controversy due to the Podesta emails, where it was suggested that it and similar organisations were created to advance progressive policies like health insurance covering contraceptives in Catholicism. [4]

History

Catholics United was founded in 2005 by Catholic social justice activists Chris Korzen and James Salt. It grew out of a 2004 effort called the Catholic Voting Project, which opposed Republican efforts to convince Catholic voters it was immoral to vote for U.S. Presidential candidate John Kerry because of his support for abortion rights. [5] The current Executive Director James Salt has a background in working with national progressive Catholic peace and justice organizations as well as political campaigns involving Catholic strategy. [6] [7]

Issues

Health care reform

In March 2010, Catholics United played a key role in convincing pro-life Catholic members of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote for final passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by running TV ads in several Congressional districts. The ads challenged claims by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as well as conservative groups that the bill allowed for federal funding of abortion. [8]

Workers' rights and energy

In 2009, Catholics United ran radio ads featuring actor Martin Sheen in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. [9] It also ran radio ads supporting the Energy Bill. [10]

Controversy

Abortion

The group has been criticized by Catholic bishops because of its opposition to criminalizing abortion, although not the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as a whole. [11]

Catholics United has condemned bishops who deny Communion to politicians who support legal abortion. It describes this as "a shameful attempt to use the Catholic sacrament of Communion as a political weapon." [12]

Gay and lesbian advocacy

In March 2010, former director Chris Korzen appeared on CNN to challenge the Archdiocese of Washington, DC's protest of a law requiring employers to grant benefits to same-sex partners. [13] In May 2010, Catholics United criticized a Boston-area Catholic school's decision to deny admission to the child of a lesbian couple. [14]

Catholics United has aimed criticism at the Church for its opposition to same-sex marriage. [15]

In 2012 the organization received most of its operational budget that year from an LGBT rights activist foundation run by influential multi-millionaire Tim Gill. [15]

Political affiliations

John Podesta's leaked emails show Sandy Newman and Podesta exchanging views and strategies in the aim of fomenting "progressive" value change in the Catholic Church. [4]

Sandy Newman, president and founder of the Voices for Progress, wrote in an email to John Podesta that: "I have not thought at all about how one would 'plant the seeds of the revolution,' or who would plant them." Podesta agreed that this was necessary, and noted he helped begin two groups to do as Newman suggests [16] [17] Podesta wrote back to note that they had created groups like Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United to push for a more progressive approach to the faith, change would "have to be bottom up." [4] [16] [17]

Raymond Arroyo responded to the much publicized Podesta e-mails, that he thought; "It makes it seem like you're creating organizations to change the core beliefs of the church," he said. "For someone to come and say, 'I have a political organization to change your church to complete my political agenda or advance my agenda,' I don't know how anybody could embrace that." [4]

Professor Robert P. George says that "these groups are political operations constructed to masquerade as organizations devoted to the Catholic faith." [18]

Elections

2008

Catholics United played an active role in shaping the religion and politics debate around the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. In 2009, President George W. Bush's former Catholic advisor Deal Hudson told U.S. News & World Report that Catholics United and its allies "made a big difference" in the election. [3]

2010

In July 2010, Catholics United announced a $500,000 campaign supporting Catholic Democratic U.S. Representatives John Boccieri, Kathy Dahlkemper, Steve Driehaus, and Tom Perriello in their unsuccessful reelection bids. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic League (U.S.)</span> Roman Catholic advocacy organization in the United States

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic organization whose stated purpose is to "defend the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination." The Catholic League states that it is "motivated by the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment ... to safeguard both the religious freedom rights and the free speech rights of Catholics whenever and wherever they are threatened." According to the Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics, the league "is regarded by many as the preeminent organization representing the views of American lay Catholics."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for American Progress</span> Liberal think tank in the United States

The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Podesta</span> American political consultant (born 1949)

John David Podesta Jr. is an American political consultant who has served as senior advisor to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation since September 2022. Podesta previously served as White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001 and counselor to President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2015. Before that, he served in the Clinton administration as White House staff secretary from 1993 to 1995 and White House deputy chief of staff for operations from 1997 to 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randall Terry</span> American activist

Randall Allen Terry is an American activist and political candidate. Terry founded the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue. Beginning in 1987, the group became particularly prominent for blockading the entrances to abortion clinics; Terry led the group until 1991. He has been arrested more than 40 times, including for violating a no-trespass order from the University of Notre Dame in order to protest against a visit by President Barack Obama.

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide.

William Anthony Donohue is an American Roman Catholic layman who has been president of the Catholic League in the United States since 1993.

The Cardinal Newman Society is an American 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit organization founded in 1993 whose stated purpose is to promote and defend faithful Catholic education. The organization is guided by Cardinal John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University and Pope John Paul II's 1990 Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae. The organization publishes The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College. However, it has been criticized for adopting views that Newman would have opposed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholics for Choice</span> Abortion rights advocacy group

Catholics for Choice (CFC) is a dissenting Catholic group that advocates for abortion rights which is based in Washington, D.C. Formed in 1973 as Catholics for a Free Choice, the group gained notice after its 1984 advertisement in The New York Times challenging Church teaching on abortion led to Church disciplinary pressure against some of the priests and nuns who signed it. It has lobbied nationally and internationally for abortion rights goals and led an unsuccessful effort to downgrade the Holy See's status in the United Nations. CFC was led for 25 years by Frances Kissling and is currently led by its President Jamie L. Manson.

Members of the Catholic Church have been active in the elections of the United States since the mid 19th century. The United States has never had religious parties. There has never been an American Catholic religious party, either local, state or national.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in the United Kingdom</span> Part of the worldwide Catholic Church

The Catholic Church in the United Kingdom is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope. While there is no ecclesiastical jurisdiction corresponding to the political union, this article refers to the Catholic Church's geographical representation in mainland Britain as well as Northern Ireland, ever since the establishment of the UK's predecessor Kingdom of Great Britain by the Union of the Crowns in 1707.

Catholic Democrats is an American not-for-profit organization of Catholics to support the Democratic Party, based in Boston, United States. The Catholic Democrats have more than 60,000 members in all 50 American states and Puerto Rico. It claims no authorization from the Catholic Church, or any Catholic bishop, Catholic diocese, candidate or candidate committee.

The Catholic Church condemns same-sex sexual activity and denies the validity of same-sex marriage. While the Church says it opposes "unjust" discrimination against homosexual persons, it supports what it considers "just" discrimination in the employment of teachers or athletic coaches, in adoption, in the military and in housing. The Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II considers sexual activity between members of the same sex to be a grave sin against chastity and sees homosexual attraction as objectively disordered. However, the Catechism also states that homosexuals "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity". This teaching has developed through papal interventions, and influenced by theologians, including the Church Fathers.

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) is a non-partisan, Catholic, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in the United States, which according to its website aims to promote "the fullness of the Catholic social tradition in the public square". The organization was founded in 2005 by Alexia Kelley and Tom Perriello. It was mentioned in the Podesta emails as an example of an organization created to support progressive Catholic values.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CatholicVote.org</span> Roman Catholic conservative political group

CatholicVote.org is a conservative, non-profit political advocacy group based in the United States. While the organization acknowledges the authority of the Magisterium, it is independent of the Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert W. McElroy</span> American prelate of the Catholic Church (born 1954)

Robert Walter McElroy is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of San Diego in California since 2015.

The Catholic Church and abortion in the United States deals with the views and activities of the Catholic Church in the United States in relation to the abortion debate. The Catholic Church opposes abortion and has campaigned against abortion in the United States, both saying that it is immoral and making statements and taking actions in opposition to its classification as legal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Palmieri</span> American presidential advisor (born 1966)

Jennifer M. Palmieri is an American political advisor and media personality who served as White House Director of Communications from 2013 to 2015 and Director of Communications for the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. Palmieri is currently the co-host of the political documentary series The Circus on Showtime.

In March 2016, the personal Gmail account of John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff and chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, was compromised in a data breach accomplished via a spear-phishing attack, and some of his emails, many of which were work-related, were hacked. Cybersecurity researchers as well as the United States government attributed responsibility for the breach to the Russian cyber spying group Fancy Bear, allegedly two units of a Russian military intelligence agency.

Dissent from the Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality has come in a number of practical and ministerial arguments from both the clergy and the laity of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church teaches that while being gay is not a sin in and of itself, any sex outside of marriage, including between same-sex partners, is sinful, and therefore being gay makes one inclined towards this particular sin.

References

  1. ↑ "About Us | Catholics United". Archived from the original on 2010-12-21. Retrieved 2010-11-30.>
  2. ↑ "Catholics urged to lobby bishops for health care reform". ncronline.org. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Bush's Catholic Outreach Guru: GOP Leaving Catholics Dispirited - God & Country (Usnews.com)". Archived from the original on 2010-11-30. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Pulliam Bailey, Sarah. "WikiLeaks emails appear to show Clinton spokeswoman joking about Catholics and evangelicals". Washington Post. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "Catholic Vote Outreach at Republican Convention". Fox News. 30 August 2004. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "James Salt". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "James Salt, Executive Director of Catholics United, Comments on the Bishops and Their Fortnight of Freedom Campaign". Berkeley Center, Georgetown University. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "Nuns Back Bill Amid Broad Rift Over Whether It Limits Abortion Enough". The New York Times. 20 March 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "President Bartlett Pledges to Pass the Employee Free Choice Act - SEIU - Service Employees International Union". Archived from the original on 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  10. ↑ http://politics.usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2009/06/26/selling-the-climate-change-bill-in-indiana-a-franciscan-sister [ bare URL ]
  11. ↑ "Catholics United Responds to Allegations Made by Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput". Catholics United. October 18, 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2018-03-29.
  12. ↑ "Report from the USCCB meeting in Orlando; bioethics; pastoral letter on marriage; this year's CTSA gathering". 13 June 2008.
  13. ↑ "CNN.com - Transcripts". cnn.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  14. ↑ http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100527catholic_group_delivers_petition_to_mass_diocese/ [ permanent dead link ]
  15. 1 2 Jones, Kevin. "Gay multi-millionaire activist funds Catholics United". Catholic News Agency-. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  16. 1 2 Staff Reporter. "Clinton campaign chief helped start Catholic organisations to create 'revolution' in the Church". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  17. 1 2 Dias, Elizabeth. "Hillary Clinton Campaign Pushes Back on 'Anti-Catholic' Charge". Time. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  18. ↑ George, Robert P. (13 October 2016). "Non-Catholics for Church 'Reform'". Wall street Journal. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  19. ↑ "Catholics United aim to raise $500,000 for Congress fight". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.