The
following excerpts are from Catholic
News Agency (CNA):
An
LGBT activist foundation headed by a former Obama White House staffer
gave a $200,000 grant to a dissenting Catholic coalition to target
the upcoming Synod on the Family and World Youth Day.
The
Michigan-based Arcus Foundation gave the 2014 grant to Dignity USA
“to support pro-LGBT faith advocates to influence and counter the
narrative of the Catholic Church and its ultra-conservative
affiliates.”
“The
effort will build advocacy and visibility in connection with two
special events, the Synod of the Family and World Youth Day,” the
foundation said on its website.
An
extraordinary bishops' synod will meet in Rome this Oct. 5-19 to
address pastoral challenges related to the family. The synod has been
the subject of significant media coverage and speculation.
On
June 26, synod organizers released the synod's preparatory document,
a broad-ranging document which among other topics summarized Catholic
teaching on homosexuality. It discussed the bishops' desire to
consider the pastoral response to homosexuality, to Catholics in
homosexual relationships, and to any children raised under those
unions.
That
same day, Dignity USA president Marianne Duddy-Burke attacked the
document, claiming it showed “a rigid adherence to existing
teaching.” The organization's statement charged that the document
“shows no openness to change in hurtful teachings.”
Dignity
USA has also been active in protests against Archbishop Salvatore
Cordileone of San Francisco's participation in the March for
Marriage, a movement intended to support marriage as a union of one
man and one woman.
The
Arcus Foundation's March 2014 grant announcement said the Dignity USA
funding was for the Equally Blessed Coalition, which includes Dignity
USA, Call To Action, Fortunate Families, and New Ways Ministry.
All
of the groups have a history of promoting the rejection of Catholic
teaching. In 2010 and 2011 New Ways Ministry, which has also received
Arcus Foundation funding, drew a response from leading U.S. bishops
who said the organization does not adhere to Catholic teaching.
Read
more by clicking below:
LGBT foundation aims to counter Vatican family synod :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)
