Poverty Groups With Gay Ties Lose Catholic Funding

For years, Compañeros, a small nonprofit that helps Hispanic immigrants in Colorado, has relied on thousands in funding from the Catholic Church's Campaign for Human Development. But now the Campaign is considering yanking that money, after noticing that Compañeros is a member of an immigrant rights coalition that had ties to a gay rights group. It's not alone. Since 2010, the Campaign has pulled funding from nine anti-poverty non-profits, under pressure from conservatives to ensure organizations strictly adhere to church positions, the New York Times reports.

The push came after the conservative American Life League started releasing an annual list of groups it considers unworthy of Catholic Campaign funding. In response, the Campaign issued a report saying it wouldn't tolerate "positions, activities, and relationships" that promote "abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, racism," the death penalty, and "punitive measures towards immigrants." Compañeros thinks it has gone too far. "I was shocked," says its executive director. "If they are willing to defund our program based on an affiliation, it sends a clear message of divisiveness." (More Catholic Church stories.)