Staff Report

Parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the nation will take up collections this weekend for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Today’s Throwback Thursday heralds the announcement of said campaign in 1969, but under a different name.

The Nov. 6, 1969 edition of The Catholic Telegraph announced that the Catholic Church in the United States would begin a “National Catholic Crusade Against Poverty.” The story announced that $50 million would comprise the initial funding and that an annual collection for the poor would be a part of it. The same article heralded the formation of the U.S. Bishop’s national office for Black Catholicism.

The National Catholic Crusade Against Poverty is better known by its present name, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

Celebrating the 45th anniversary of its announcement this year, the campaign is the primary  domestic anti-poverty fund of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The campaign provides funding for a myriad of programs and organizations, some of which can be found HERE.

The year after its announcement, specifically by the Oct. 9, 1970 edition of The Catholic Telegraph, the crusade was established as the Campaign for Human Development. The word Catholic was added to the name later.

The 1970 article notes that William R. Schumacher, then-director of the Social Action office, was named by Archbishop Paul F. Leibold to head the campaign in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The national collection that year was taken up Nov. 22 and the collection continues to take place the weekend prior to Thanksgiving.

Locally, the archdiocese was out in front of the crusade/campaign with its own program. Archbishop Leibold’s predecessor, Archbishop Karl J. Alter, allocated $1.25 million for community development to a committee that served as forerunner to the Social Action Office. That money was later replaced by CCHD funds.

“The Catholic Campaign for Human Development continues to touch the lives of thousands of poor and vulnerable people in our archdiocesan communities every year,” said Tony Stieritz, Director of the Catholic Social Action Office. “And we give thanks for the unwavering generosity of parishioners who give to the collection every November.  While there are many, wonderful anti-poverty programs today, CCHD stands out as one that consistently brings Christ’s hope to people.  Families in underserved communities, the formerly incarcerated seeking employment, migrants, new single mothers choosing life, these are all examples of the kinds of people with whom CCHD works today, empowering them to take control of their own destinies!  It’s a life-giving ministry for everyone involved.”

Among the initial projects the crusade hoped to fund were: voter registration, community organizations, non-profit housing corporations, community-run schools, job training and more.

According to the USCCB website, CCHD works to involve those who benefit from the campaign in its organization.

“The belief that those who are directly affected by unjust systems and structures have the best insight into knowing how to change them is central to CCHD,” the site reads. “CCHD works to break the cycle of poverty by helping low-income people participate in decisions that affect their lives, families and communities. CCHD offers a hand up, not a hand out.”

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has a long history of working against poverty both locally, nationally, and even on the world stage. The article announcing the crusade in 1969 was printed below a photo of an impoverished Indian woman and child. That photo was promoting the annual Catholic Relief Services collection that used to take place near Thanksgiving.

The photo caption notes then-Archbishop Leibold “expressed the hope that the people of the Cincinnati archdiocese would respond ‘in our usual generous fashion.'”

Presently, two-thirds of CCHD money collected locally goes to the USCCB CCHD, while one third remains in the archdiocese. In a letter released in October, current Archbishop of Cincinnnati Dennis M. Schnurr urged the faithful to participate.

“Yet, every parishioner who makes the choice to give to CCHD on Collection Weekend becomes a part of this large family, which is building a new reality reflective of the Kingdom of God,” he wrote.

To learn more about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, visit the Catholic Social Action Office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s website HERE.

Welcome to The Catholic Telegraph’s edition of Throwback Thursday. Throwback Thursday is a weekly online activity wherein users of social media share an old photo or anecdote about times gone by. We use Throwback Thursday to highlight the history of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and our publication.

Previous Throwback Thursdays
Trains before planes; How archbishops arrived
Carroll HS founded, honoring first American bishop
Halloween a mixture of different traditions
Four area bishops installed in 1945
Habemus John Paul II
The death of a Pope
Guardian Angels artist was spot on
Catholic prep football in the CT
Archbishop Bernadin makes the Tribune
Sept. 11, 2001
Computers all the rage in 1983
English permitted in some rituals

Posted Nov. 20, 2014