By Jerry Zufelt
EDITOR

GREENSBURG — In order to help the Diocese of Greensburg add to its already impressive material assistance efforts for people in need in the communities of the diocese’s four counties and because of problems with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) program, Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt has announced the formation of the Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund.

Bishop Brandt announced the new initiative April 22 at the Communities of Salt and Light Awards Dinner, the annual fundraising event for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg.

With the establishment of the new fund, Bishop Brandt said the diocese will no longer participate in the CCHD or its collection.

Bishop Brandt and other U.S. bishops have been critical of CCHD because some of the national grants it awarded did not receive appropriate oversight, and monies were used to fund activities that were not in keeping with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Bishop Brandt said that while details are still being finalized about the guidelines and criteria for grants from the Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund, the Board of Trustees of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg will be responsible for oversight of this new fund and how the money is distributed. The fund will be supported by an existing diocesan collection in November, he said.

The Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund collection will be taken in conjunction with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) collection the weekend before Thanksgiving. The funds will be divided exactly as they were when the CRS and CCHD collection was held on the same weekend. Half of the contributions will remain in the diocese to support the Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund, and the other half will go to CRS, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief effort.

Existing diocesan CCHD funds will be moved to the Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund, according to Bishop Brandt.

The decisions to form the Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund and to withdraw from CCHD were made late last year, Bishop Brandt said, after he received complaints about CCHD’s national activities, heard that priests received similar complaints and consulted with diocesan staff.

The formation of the Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund and the decision to no longer participate in the CCHD were announced by Bishop Brandt to priests in the diocese in December so they could plan their 2010 collection schedule.

At the Salt and Light dinner Bishop Brandt said, "I personally want to assure you that the Diocese of Greensburg has never awarded local CCHD grants to any group holding positions contrary to Catholic doctrine.

"We have tremendous needs locally," Bishop Brandt said. "This change allows our diocese to know exactly how the poverty relief funds are spent. It also assures the parishioners who make generous contributions to the diocese that they are helping their neighbors right here in southwestern Pennsylvania."

Msgr. Raymond E. Riffle, managing director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg, said the poverty relief fund has several advantages.

"The diocese will be able to respond to requests from qualifying organizations and will even be able to provide concrete programmatic assistance in a broader capacity than was allowed by the CCHD grant structure," he said, noting that the CCHD did not provide material assistance or provide funds for programs that directly supplied needed resources to the poor.

Msgr. Riffle said February unemployment rates in the diocese’s four counties ranged from 12.2 percent in Fayette County to 10.5 percent in Armstrong County and 9.3 and 9.2 percent in Westmoreland and Indiana counties, respectively, according to a March 18 report by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

"CCHD funds cannot be used, for example, to help a parish food pantry or a St. Vincent de Paul Society store expand its services or fill an emergency need," Msgr. Riffle said. "The Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund also allows us to respond to requests from these worthwhile organizations for funds to buy food, clothing and other necessities and then distribute them to people in need."