Report Says Conservatives Hampering Church Anti-Poverty Work

A new report by a progressive religious organization contends that “Catholic McCarthyism” is hampering church-led social-justice and anti-poverty efforts, according to the Religion News Service.

The study issued last week by Washington-based lobbying group Faith in Public Life targets what author John Gehring called a “small but well-financed network” of conservative activists who, he said, hamstring the Catholic Campaign for Human Development by denouncing its associations with non-Catholic programs or agencies that may also promote contraception, abortion, and gay rights.

The campaign, led by U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is a major supporter of community-level organizing and social-service work. The Faith in Public Life report has won public backing from some prominent church figures, including two former presidents of the bishops’ group.