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

History

CCHD was begun in 1969 as the "National Catholic Crusade Against Poverty" by the Catholic bishops in the United States, in part as a response to Pope Paul VI's

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from ...

'' Populorum progressio'' ("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 Michael Stephen Dempsey (born 29 November 1958) is an English musician and composer, who has played bass as a member of several post-punk and new wave bands, including the Cure and the Associates. History Early years Dempsey was born on 29 ...

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 also played a major role in its founding. CCHD is supported by an annual collection in U.S. Catholic

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

, and individual donations. Allegations that some CCHD-funded organizations were promoting abortion, contraception 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