The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is the national anti-poverty and social justice program of the

United States 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 ...

(USCCB)

History

CCHD was begun in 1969 as the "National Catholic Crusade Against Poverty" by the

Catholic 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 ...

bishops in the United States, in part as a response to

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

's encyclical ''

Populorum progressio ''Populorum progressio'' is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI on the topic of "the development of peoples" and that the economy of the world should serve mankind and not just the few. It was released on 26 March 1967. It touches on a variet ...

'' ("The Progress of Peoples"). CCHD's mission is "to address the root causes of poverty in America through promotion and support of community-controlled self-help organizations and through transformative social justice, education, and solidarity between poor and non-poor". The Campaign had its origins in the 1960s with Chicago priest (and later Bishop) Michael Dempsey while serving as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish on the West Side. He served as the organization's first leader after his appointment as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese. Future cardinal

Joseph Bernardin Joseph Louis Bernardin (April 2, 1928 – November 14, 1996) was an American Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Cincinnati from 1972 until 1982, and as Archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death in 1996 from ...

also played a major role in its founding. CCHD is supported by an annual collection in U.S. Catholic parishes, and individual donations. Allegations that some CCHD-funded organizations were promoting

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 pre ...

contraception 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 ...

and radical politics, and that the CCHD was a force of internal corruption within the USCCB were addressed in 2010 with the ''Review and Renewal of CCHD'', which affirmed the core mission of CCHD and instituted controls to ensure that all CCHD-funded initiatives are consistent with Catholic mission and identity. CCHD had revenues of $18.1 million for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017.

References

External links

Catholic Campaign for Human Development website
Catholic charities Criminal justice reform in the United States {{RC-society-stub