Editorial

By Paul Schratz

This seems to be the time of year when many charitable-minded people write out a cheque or authorize payroll donations as a way of doing something generous for the homeless and poor, for medical research, or for some of the many benevolent causes that benefit our society.

Unfortunately in some cases it also contributes to the culture of death.

The posters that are taped up and the brochures that are floating around in workplaces all over the Lower Mainland urge employees almost to the point of obligation about the need to give to the United Way. The pressure is subtle: giving is good for you and for others; it’s easy; it’s painless if it comes off your paycheque.

While most of the causes that the United Way funds are clearly worthy of support, some, such as Options for Sexual Health, are clearly inimical to Catholic teaching. These seem to grow all the time.

As if that’s not enough of a moral quandary, a few days from now all sorts of good hearted people who care about needy children around the world will hand out coins and bills and cheques to UNICEF. When the superheroes and princesses come to the door at Halloween, or are handed collection boxes at school, it’s hard not to recognize the good that such organizations accomplish and ignore the organization’s support for abortion rights.

Last week’s debate over Michael J. Fox’s support of Parkinson’s research through the killing of embryos is another example of a cause that, while well intentioned, uses destructive means. Scripture, natural law, and Church documents including the Catechism clearly say evil may not be committed in the hope of accomplishing good.

Unfortunately this precludes supporting many medical research organizations and other charities that support stem-cell research that destroys embryos or that dabble with the notion of abortion as a fundamental human right.

It’s unfortunate that this often leaves the Church cast as a negative, gloomy institution, when the exact opposite should be the case. As Pope Benedict XVI said in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, the exercise of charity is one of the Church’s “essential activities, along with the administration of the sacraments and the proclamation of the word: love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind, is as essential to her as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel.”

One can easily imagine Our Lord today, were He walking among us, physically serving the homeless, the lonely, the poor, the oppressed, and the sick. One risks trivializing His saving actions by suggesting He’d be more likely at Oppenheimer Park handing out clothing to the homeless than preaching fire and brimstone sermons on a street corner, and yet there is an indispensable, even pre-eminent, place for charity in our faith.

As Pope Benedict quoted Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Ut Unum Sint, the building of a better world requires Christians to speak with a united voice in working to inculcate “respect for the rights and needs of everyone, especially the poor, the lowly, and the defenseless.” Surely there are none more defenseless than the unborn.

The charity that we are called to is surely not simply to oppose evil but to stand for good. Organizations that would use our money for immoral purposes need to hear why they won’t benefit from us. A phone call, letter, e-mail, or even a comment to a canvasser can deliver that message. Other organizations that appear to he headed down the same path, such as Amnesty International, need to be warned that they’ll lose more than they gain through such an approach.

The next step, of course, is to take the money those organizations are foregoing and contribute it toward a worthy cause that will accomplish charity without compromise. Any solid Catholic charity will put your donation to good use, and likely do a better job of keeping the administrative costs reduced too. From Project ADVANCE or The Door is Open at the local level to CCODP at the national, one has the knowledge that a contribution is helping to bring about an abundance of good in the world.

Organizations involved in corrupt pursuits need to be reminded that their behavior has consequences. Similarly, virtuous organizations will benefit. Now that’s a united way to deal with the world’s tremendous needs.