NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      WASHINGTON (CWNews.com) - After consistently rejecting complaints that it had funded organizations that oppose Church teaching, the US bishops' charitable agency has quietly rescinded grants to a California group which had been active in campaigns to promote homosexuality.

      The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has canceled grants of over $30,000 to the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO), after CTWO sponsored a program that included the distribution of condoms to teenagers in Oregon. CTWO has also been on record in support of homosexual marriage, and has joined in public condemnation of both the "Christian Right" and the "nuclear family."

      Until the latest grant was revoked, the CTWO had enjoyed funding from the CCHD for nearly 20 years. The CCHD grants were allegedly made in support of programs helping low-income people to build effective political organizations.

      For several years, the CCHD has been criticized for making grants to organizations which oppose Catholic teachings on issues such as homosexuality, feminism, and abortion. The Washington-based Capital Research Center, a non-profit organization which studies philanthropical giving, has repeatedly called for tighter scrutiny of the CCHD, and has issued several reports listing the grants made by the bishops' agency to groups engaged in abortion advocacy. To date, the CCHD has always rejected the critics' charges, insisting that they are completely without foundation.

      In a related story out of New York, two Catholic activism groups placed a full-page ad in The New York Times on Wednesday responding to the October murder of a 21-year-old homosexual Wyoming man by calling for an end to discrimination against homosexuals and lesbians.

      The ad was sponsored by Pax Christi USA, which promotes transforming society through non-violence, and New Ways Ministry, which has been controversial because of its promotion of the acceptance of homosexuality in contradiction to Catholic Church teaching. "If Catholics and all people of faith commit their hearts to acceptance and inclusion of gay and lesbian people, the escalation of violence can be overcome," said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry. "Misguided religious thought has fueled the homophobia that causes violence. True Christian charity can correct it."

      Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old, openly-homosexual college student, was allegedly killed by two Wyoming men, partly because of his sexuality. Pro-homosexual groups pointed at the murder as a sign of increasing violence and hostility against them, which they said stems from religious and moral objections to their lifestyle.