1. Illustrative List of
Catholic Endorsers of an Initiative for a Voluntary, Truly Non-Governmental, Faithful
International Catholic Charity
• Russell Shaw, Catholic writer, journalist, syndicated columnist
Here is a creative idea for something that clearly needs doing. Catholics faithful to
the teaching of the Church have for a long time been looking for a fully Catholic
charitable organization they could support with confidence that not only were they
supporting programs and projects consistent with their Catholic beliefs and values,
but only programs and projects which meet that crucial test. I am pleased to endorse
the concept underlying Jon Merrill's proposal, and I look forward with much hope to
the result. – Russell Shaw
• Philip F. Lawler, Director, Catholic Culture (CatholicCulture.org); Editor
Emeritus, Catholic World Report; Author, The Faithful Departed: The
Collapse of Boston’s Catholic Culture.
At last, an approach to Catholic charity that is both truly Catholic and truly charitable!
Jon Merrill's approach is truly Catholic in that it sees all charitable work as a form of
evangelization. It will not sacrifice the truths of the faith, and in service to the poor it
gives top priority to their spiritual needs. It is truly charitable insofar as it receives
support only from voluntary donations – not from tax imposts and/or government
contracts. Here is an opportunity for serious Catholics to help those who need help,
confident that their help cannot be diverted toward other less savory causes. – Philip
F. Lawler
• Steven W. Mosher, President, Population Research Institute; Author,
Population Control: Real Costs, Illusory Benefits.
Government charity is a contradiction in terms. Catholics need their own institutions,
free of government funding and hence control, to carry out authentic charitable work
around the world.
Jon Merrill, whom I have known and worked with for many years, has developed a
proposal for just such a charitable institution. He notes that it would rely on private
funds, rejecting on principle financial contributions from the state, and linked to no
conference of bishops. These characteristics would, of course, give it the freedom
to be authentically Catholic, which in practice would mean that its staff of orthodox
Catholics would be free to openly practice and preach their faith, something they are
not now allowed to do in government-sponsored programs. They could, for
example, teach chastity without having to mischaracterize this virtue as abstinence.
They could teach Natural Family Planning without being forced by the requirements
embedded in government funding, to promote artificial birth control as well. And
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2. they could stand with the magisterium in opposing all forms of abortion, not just
surgical but chemical as well.
I am pleased to endorse Jon’s proposal for an authentically Catholic charity, and
strongly urge faithful Catholics to be generous in offering prayers and financial
support towards it success. – Steven W. Mosher
• Jeffrey Tucker, Managing Editor, Sacred Music, of the Church Music
Association of America (CMAA); Director of Publications, CMAA; Author,
Sing Like a Catholic; Editorial Vice President, Ludwig von Mises
Institute.
This seems like an excellent project. I've not thoroughly considered all the many
ways in which the existing structure of Catholic charitable institutions might have
been compromised by public money and bad theory, but it certainly makes sense
that the problems are pervasive. To establish something wholly new and
uncompromising in every way, while at the same time drawing on extensive
experience with authentic charitable work, seems visionary. I sincerely hope that the
idea takes off. A commitment to Catholicism, voluntarism, and hard work will
produce more effective results than billions in public aid. – Jeffrey Tucker
• Matthew Hanley, co-author, Affirming Love, Avoiding AIDS: What Africa
Can Teach the West (available from National Catholic Bioethics Center);
contributor, “The Catholic Thing” web journal.
There will always be a need for authentic charity. The needs of the whole human
person are many. We live in an era of prosperity, but also at a time where threats to
authentic human development (in all parts of the world) are as much moral as they
are material.
Ours is also a time of proliferating NGOs – many of which are almost exclusively
dependent on government funding – which makes the distinctively Catholic
approach to charity and development all the more needed.
Jon Merrill has thought these matters through and has developed a proposal for an
authentically Catholic charity that is worthy of consideration and support. Catholics
(professionals and others) called to a life of charitable service need a place they can
call home, a place where they are not marginalized or ridiculed on account of their
Catholic faith but welcomed and valued; Catholic donors eager to participate in
charitable activity also need an institution that does not compromise on essential
matters of Catholic identity.
I would like to see such an initiative take flight – and in so doing, complement,
inspire and help transform existing entities. There is much to do. – Matthew Hanley
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3. • Fr. Fabian Hevi, Regional Superior, Kenya, Society of African Missions
(SMA).
SOCIETY OF AFRICAN MISSIONS
P. O. BOX 15573
00503, Nairobi
Kenya
Tel. +254 20 891914
Fax: +254 20 890092
Mobile: +254712292229
Email: kofihevi@yahoo.com
This indeed is good news for those on Mission and working for the less privileged.
From experience over the years it has not been easy getting funding from most
Catholic Charitable institutions. This is not because they are not ready to help, but
simply because their hands are so tight and they are controlled by the links and
sources of their funding. With Jon’s ideas and spirit, he intends for something pure
and focused on the Catholic Church and her values without any interference. This
will also help beneficiaries through their Bishops to have a free hand in funds that
are meant to help missions in their charitable and evangelization work. It is an
opportunity for thousands of Catholics who think they are being charitable through
their tax deductions to realize that charity demands sacrifice and a bit of pain. I
know many do not know about the truth and therefore this calls for education, and
joining hands with Jon and his ideas we shall have a revolution in our style of
helping out the less privileged.
Jon, knowing you and working with you for a good number of years, I strongly
support you and endorse what you are starting. This is a big wake-up call to all of
us and I believe a lot will be behind you for a great success of the Church’s role
and responsibility in the lives of the less privileged in our society and the world at
large.
Fr Fabian Hevi SMA
Regional Superior, Kenya
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4. • Prof. Philip Booth, Editorial and Programme Director, Institute of
Economic Affairs, London, England.
The priorities of many aid agencies become distorted by their relationships with
governments. This new initiative is most welcome as it promises to provide help
in the best Christian tradition of love and charity, thus attending to the real needs
of the poor rather than having to adapt to the whims of political structures. –
Philip Booth
• Dr. Samuel Gregg, Director of Research, Acton Institute; author of
numerous works on political economy.
Clearly not all is well with the operation and ethos of many Catholic charities
today. Excessively reliant on government funding and seemingly anxious to put
distance between themselves and the Church’s moral teachings, many have
subtly hollowed out their Catholic commitments and become largely
indistinguishable from the secularist alternatives. Our broken world is in
desperate need of Catholic organizations that live out – without compromise –
the distinctly Catholic understanding of caritas, so beautifully described by Pope
Benedict XVI in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, and which are not beholden to
anything except the truth revealed by Catholic faith and reason and the
magisterial teaching of the Church. Jon Merrill’s proposal to help realize precisely
such a Catholic charitable organization is only to be commended. – Samuel
Gregg
• Dr. Andrew Abela, Chairman, Department of Business and Economics,
and Associate Professor of Marketing, Catholic University of America;
Chairman of Ethics Committee, American Marketing Association.
In the section of his encyclical Deus Caritas Est entitled "The distinctiveness
of the Church's charitable activity," Pope Benedict wrote that "Christian charitable
activity must be independent of parties and ideologies. It is not a means of
changing the world ideologically, and it is not at the service of worldly
stratagems, but it is a way of making present here and now the love which man
always needs." (31b). Jon Merrill is to be commended for his efforts to bring this
distinctive charitable activity to the world's most needy. – Andrew Abela
• James Fitzpatrick, columnist, The Wanderer.
Jon Merrill's effort is exactly what many Catholics have been looking for – a way
to make charitable donations to serve the least of our brethren that does not
serve the transnational, secular liberal agenda that has crept into too many
established Catholic charitable groups. – James Fitzpatrick
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5. • Sister Catherine Miranda, Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Namaacha,
Mozambique.
Jon Merrill's initiative to start a Catholic charitable organization attentive to the
fullness of Church teaching is laudable. Having worked with him for the past
years and seeing the fruit of his intervention for the orphans and vulnerable
children in Mozambique who are entrusted to religious communities such as the
Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (my own) and the Missionary Sisters of the
Precious Blood, I look forward to seeing the establishment of this organization. I
am confident that, through its “evangelistically charitable” approach to aiding the
disadvantaged, it will make a great contribution to the purification of organized
Catholic charity, and to advancing and supplementing the charitable work of
faithful Catholic religious congregations in the developing world and elsewhere. –
Sr. Catherine Miranda
• Fr. PeterSixtus Emenike, C.S.Sp., Holy Ghost Fathers and Brothers
(Spiritans), Ethiopian Foundation.
Purity of purpose and purity of tradition are essential to the distinctiveness of any
charitable organization. Getting involved with governments or governmental
parastatals, most non-governmental organizations are no longer “non-
governmental” but “pro-governmental.” And, in an effort to be in exact tune with
the “signs of the times,” many charitable organizations also deviate from their
original vision, mission, and objectives.
As for Catholic charity organizations, some have de-linked themselves from the
Church in the process of responding to these “signs of the times.” They have lost
their taste according to the Biblical proverb about “salt losing its taste.” We need
a charitable organization that, while responding intelligently and with
understanding and compassion to those signs of the times, will always remain
true to its traditions and the Tradition.
Having worked and interacted with Jon Merrill for the past years, his high level of
dedication and conviction explain in themselves that he is clear about the
importance of purity of purpose and purity of tradition in any organization,
especially a Catholic charitable organization. The schools managed by the Holy
Ghost Fathers (Spiritans) in Borana region of Ethiopia experienced through the
projects and programmes coordinated by Jon that a charity organization can
successfully carry out its activities, even when funding is very tight…and remain
Catholic.
Jon negotiated a common vision, mission, and specific objectives with the Holy
Ghost Fathers (Spiritans), Ethiopian Foundation, using verifiable indicators. We
all collaborated in the activities and achieved the set targets of the various
programmes we negotiated with him. This method of carrying out charitable
activities was commended by our Monitoring and Evaluation Committee and has
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6. remained a blueprint for most of our projects and programmes in the Borana
region of southeastern Ethiopia.
Jon, as a seasoned development (aid) coordinator and a dedicated Catholic, will
bring his experience and sense of commitment to the task of establishing a
distinctively Catholic charitable organization. In that task I would give him my
maximum cooperation and support. Through such a charity, evangelization will
get to the ends of the earth. – Fr. PeterSixtus Emenike, C.S.Sp.
• Mary Ann Kreitzer, President, Les Femmes; President, Catholic Media
Coalition.
As a Catholic activist who has fought the secularization of many Catholic
charities over the years, particularly the Catholic Campaign for Human
Development, I see Jon Merrill's proposal for a Catholic charity grounded in the
fundamental doctrines of the Church as absolutely imperative. For too long,
Catholics have poured their money into collections taken up in the pews that
have misdirected donations to groups that either actively or passively embrace
the values of the secular world. For Catholics to find that their donations go to
pay the salaries of community organizers working to elect social liberals to public
office and to promote abortion, same-sex marriage, homosexual adoption, and
other evils, is outrageous. The fact that many of those involved in these charities
operate with "good intentions" is no excuse. As the saying goes, "The road to hell
is paved with good intentions."
I personally endorse the concept Jon Merrill has developed for a lay run,
international charity to direct money to causes that are totally Catholic, operate in
accordance with Church doctrine reflecting true social justice rather than
socialism, and stress personal and voluntary giving versus "government charity"
by taxation, an oxymoron. Such a charity that Catholics can support without
reservation is long overdue.
To reiterate and summarize, I support the concepts that:
(1) True charity – organized as well as personal – can only be voluntary;
(2) Government funding – which may be necessary for material “welfare”
functions in society – must never be allowed to masquerade as or substitute for
true Catholic charity;
(3) It is the primary and direct responsibility of the laity – not the clergy – to direct,
manage, and fund actions of organized Catholic charity; and,
(4) To qualify for the name, a true Catholic charity must adhere, not only
theoretically and passively, but conspicuously – as the “sign of contradiction”
which the Church is obliged to be – to the most “controversial” Catholic teachings
on life and family.
I wish Mr. Merrill much success in this endeavor and encourage others to support
the establishment of a charity that will meet these truly Catholic goals. – Mary
Ann Kreitzer
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7. • Marc Brammer, RealCatholicTV.
Jon is undertaking a most worthy project. Clearly, these modern times cry out for
charity that prepares and preserves both body and soul. No state or public entity
has the capacity or the will to address the spiritual and corporal needs of both
body and soul. Catholic charity on the other hand is uniquely qualified to serve
both. It is therefore the responsibility of Catholics to undertake this important
work of Militia Caritatis Dei completely separate from and independent of the
state. Jon has the right idea. Jon will make a difference for many deserving
souls. Jon deserves our financial support. – Marc Brammer
• Fr. Kenneth Okoli C.S.Sp., Holy Ghost Fathers and Brothers
(Spiritans); previously missionary priest in Ethiopia; currently director of
Revive, “supporting refugees and people seeking asylum,” Manchester,
England.
Many Catholic charities are formed based on the social teaching of the Church in
care and service to the less privileged and in respect for the dignity of the person
and equality of all. Unfortunately, many of these charities, because of financial
challenges, have strayed away from their origins and become the puppet of their
donors, thereby neglecting the Catholic ethos of their charity. Many now have to
support government and political agendas even when it is against Catholic
teachings. The good olden days of Catholic charities standing upright against the
anti-Catholic social teachings and working alongside the oppressed and the poor
are going far away.
An initiative like this one of Jon Merrill, bringing us back to our traditional roots of
authentic witness in the footsteps of Christ through our Catholic faith and
tradition, is long overdue. Having worked with Jon in the past in Ethiopia and
through my conversation with him, I’m quite convinced that this new initiative will
uphold the great tradition of our Catholic ethos and open a new door of hope to
many Catholics who are worried about the future of many of our existing Catholic
charities.
I am therefore pleased to endorse this initiative and urge all Catholics of good will
to give this proposal their support. – Fr. Kenneth Okoli, C.S.Sp.
• Stephanie Block, editor, Los Pequeños Pepper (publication of Los
Pequeños de Cristo).
This proposed Catholic charity remedies the precise errors that CCHD – and to a
lesser extent CRS and Catholic Charities and, God love them, even the St.
Vincent de Paul in some places – have embraced. As a long-time observer of
such institutions, I’m pleased to endorse Jon Merrill’s proposal for an
authentically Catholic charity.
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