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)). Such organizations are exempt from some Taxation in the Un ...

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 (CST) is an area of Catholic doctrine which is concerned with human dignity and the common good in society. It addresses oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, social justice, and w ...

." 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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

Podesta emails 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 ...

, 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 pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

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 served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

because he supported

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

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 is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

to vote for the final passage of the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...

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 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Co ...

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 Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...

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 20 ...

. It also ran radio ads supporting the

Energy Bill Energy () is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat and light. Energy is a conserved quantity—the law of conservation of energy sta ...

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 Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. 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 f ...

Political affiliations

John Podesta John David Podesta Jr. (born January 8, 1949) is an American political consultant who served as Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy from 2024 to 2025, having previously served as the Senior Advisor to the President ...

's leaked emails show Sandy Newman and Podesta exchanging views and strategies with the aim of fomenting " progressive" value change in the Catholic Church. Sandy Newman, president and founder of the Voices for Progress, wrote in an email to John Podesta: "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. In 1996, he created the EWTN news program ''The World Over Live'' and authored the ''Will Wilder'' series. He also presents the "Seen and Unseen" and "Frid ...

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 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 and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

'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 (United States), Democratic Party, she was elected the county executive of Erie County, Pennsylvania in 2013 and served ...

Steve Driehaus Steven Leo Driehaus (born June 24, 1966) is an American politician and former U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previou ...

, and

Tom Perriello Thomas Stuart Price Perriello (born October 9, 1974) is an American attorney, diplomat, and politician. For over four years until July 2023, Perriello served as the executive director for U.S. Programs at the Open Society Foundations. Perriello ...

in their unsuccessful reelection bids.

References

External links

* *{{Facebook, CatholicsUnited
Catholics United: Catholics for Sebelius
(archived 3 March 2009) Christianity and political ideologies LGBTQ and Catholicism LGBTQ 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