Catholics United is a U.S.-based non-profit

501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exe ...

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 Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state (polity), state, subsidiarity, social o ...

." The group claims a total membership of 50,000. Though not affiliated and without any official status within the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, it has had a significant effect on the religious and political debate in the U.S. Catholics United has attracted controversy due to emails from Clinton campaign chair

John Podesta John David Podesta Jr. (born January 8, 1949) is an American political consultant who has served as Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden for clean energy innovation and implementation since September 2022. Podesta previously served as White ...

released by

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...

, where it was suggested that it and similar organisations were created to advance progressive policies like health insurance covering

contraceptives Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

in Catholicism.

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 John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

because of his support for

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

rights. 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.

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 The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

to vote for final passage of the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...

by running TV ads in several Congressional districts. The ads challenged claims by the

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

as well as conservative groups that the bill allowed for federal funding of abortion.

Workers' rights and energy

In 2009, Catholics United ran radio ads featuring actor

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

in support of the

Employee Free Choice Act The Employee Free Choice Act is the name for several legislative bills on US labor law (, , , , , , , , .) which have been proposed and sometimes introduced into one or both chambers of the U.S. Congress. The bill's purpose, as taken from the 200 ...

. It also ran radio ads supporting the Energy Bill.

Controversy

Abortion

The group has been criticized by Catholic bishops because of its opposition to criminalizing abortion, although not the

as a whole. 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."

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. In May 2010, Catholics United criticized a Boston-area Catholic school's decision to deny admission to the child of a lesbian couple. Catholics United has aimed criticism at the Church for its opposition to

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. 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 Tim Gill (born October 18, 1953) is an American computer software programmer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and LGBTQ rights activist. He was among the first openly gay people to be on the Forbes 400 list of America's richest people. He is the fo ...

Political affiliations

s leaked emails show Sandy Newman and Podesta exchanging views and strategies in the aim of fomenting "

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

" value change in the Catholic Church. 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 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."

Raymond Arroyo Raymond Arroyo (born September 20, 1970) is an American author, journalist, and producer. He is the news director and lead anchor of EWTN News, the news division of the Eternal Word Television Network. He is creator and host of the news program ...

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." Professor

Robert P. George Robert Peter George (born July 10, 1955) is an American legal scholar, political philosopher, and public intellectual who serves as the sixth McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and ...

says that "these groups are political operations constructed to masquerade as organizations devoted to the Catholic faith."

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 George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

'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.

2010

In July 2010, Catholics United announced a $500,000 campaign supporting Catholic Democratic U.S. Representatives

John Boccieri John Stephen Anthony Boccieri (born October 5, 1969) is an American politician who was appointed to fill the 59th district seat in the Ohio House of Representatives on September 29, 2015. He left office after an unsuccessful run for Ohio State S ...

Kathy Dahlkemper Kathleen Ann Dahlkemper ( née Steenberge; born December 10, 1957) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected the county executive of Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 2013 and served as the U.S. representative for ...

Steve Driehaus Steven Leo Driehaus (born June 24, 1966) is an American politician and former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minority Whip in the Ohio House of Representat ...

, and

Tom Perriello Thomas Stuart Price Perriello (born October 9, 1974) is an American attorney, diplomat, and politician. As of January 2021, Perriello is the executive director for U.S. Programs at the Open Society Foundations. Perriello ran for in the United S ...

in their unsuccessful reelection bids.{{cite web, url=http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/kellie-bramlet/2010-07-22/catholics-united-aim-raise-500000-congress-fight, title=Catholics United aim to raise $500,000 for Congress fight , work=Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, date=22 July 2010, accessdate=20 December 2016

References

External links

Catholics United main siteCatholics United on facebookCatholics United: Catholics for Sebelius (Archived Version)
Christianity and political ideologies LGBT and Catholicism LGBT Christian organizations Catholicism-related controversies Catholic organizations established in the 21st century American Christian political organizations Christianity and politics in the United States 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations 2005 establishments in the United States Liberalism in the United States Liberal Catholicism