WASHINGTON, D.C. January 19, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The head of the U.S. Bishops’ anti-poverty arm, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), once served on the campaign team of a politician strongly backed by Planned Parenthood in 2008, according to public records.
The popular Catholic blog Creative Minority Report unearthed documents Wednesday that show that in 2008 Ralph McCloud, while serving as head of CCHD, was the treasurer for the Texas state senate campaign of pro-abortion Democrat Wendy Davis. Davis ultimately won her bid to unseat Republican incumbent Kim Brimer, who is pro-life.
Previously, McCloud coordinated the peace and justice ministry in the Fort Worth Diocese and directed CCHD in the diocese since 1995.
At the time of his ascension to the head of the national CCHD, Msgr. David Malloy, USCCB general secretary, praised McCloud’s reputation as a “respected and experienced social ministry leader,” saying that his “profound commitment to the Catholic Church enables him to communicate the biblical, theological and spiritual dimensions of Catholic social ministry and the principles that guide CCHD’s mission of empowering people trapped in the cycle of poverty.”
“Why would the director of the CCHD, during his tenure as head of an ostensibly Catholic institution act as champion and treasurer of a campaign for a pro-abortion politician seeking to oust a pro-life politician? This is the textbook definition of scandal,” wrote Creative Minority Report’s Matthew Archbold.
The blogger pointed out that Davis was so strongly supported by the pro-abortion crowd that the pro-abortion PAC Annie’s List raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the candidate while McCloud worked as treasurer. In addition, the Texas Ethics Commission faulted the campaign treasurer for Planned Parenthood of North Texas for not reporting at least tens of thousands of dollars to help Davis’ election bid.
CCHD has come under fire from some Catholic groups after it was revealed that the organization had funneled Sunday collection money toward groups that promote abortion, same-sex “marriage,” and contraception, all considered grave evils by the Catholic Church.
Last year the office in Chicago, CCHD’s birthplace, began actively opposing such groups and contributing funds to life-saving pregnancy centers. However, that effort appears to have been largely dismantled by a group of priests who called it an “insult” to groups to inquire about their fidelity to Church teaching.
Michael Hichborn of American Life League, a spokesperson for the Reform CCHD Now coalition, said the recent report showed the degree of complicity between CCHD and pro-abortion forces, and said it calls into question the sincerity of CCHD’s stated intentions to fix the issue.
“It illustrates that the problem with the CCHD lies specifically with the staff themselves,” Hichborn told LifeSiteNews.com.
Hichborn also said that the report bolsters the coalition’s calls for a full disclosure of groups funded by CCHD this year. According to Hichborn, CCHD promised to send a list of grantees after all signed agreements were returned; however, when CCHD was asked for a projected date, the group said there was no deadline for returning such documents.