USCCB Elects Bishop George V. Murry Chairman of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development

Catholic Campaign for Human Development
Wednesday, 21 November 2001

The U.S. Catholic bishops elected Bishop George V. Murry, SJ, of St. Thomas, VI, to a three-year term as chairman of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) during their annual fall meeting held here Nov. 12-15.

"The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is central to the social vision of the church," Bishop Murry said. "The battle to end poverty is an uphill one that must be fought systematically, compassionately and locally. CCHD excels at this approach and I am grateful for this opportunity to lead an organization that allows us to carry out our Christian responsibility in a concrete and effective way."

The committee sets policy and makes funding decisions for CCHD, the Catholic Church's domestic anti-poverty program. Bishop John J. Leibrecht of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Mo., is the immediate past CCHD chairman. Currently, the Rev. Robert J. Vitillo, a priest of the Diocese of Paterson, NJ, serves as CCHD executive director.

Bishop Murry's term as chairman begins immediately. As chairman, he appoints up to six other bishops as committee members, and may name clergy, religious or laity as consultants. The committee will meet in March 2002 for the first time.

Established in 1970 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, CCHD is one of the nation's largest private funders of self-help programs. For over three decades, the campaign has been a significant vehicle for social change, addressing the root causes of poverty in the United States.

CCHD is funded entirely by private donations from individuals, groups, and foundations. The majority of its resources come from contributions to an annual appeal in Catholic parishes. In most dioceses, the collection is held the weekend before Thanksgiving.

In September, CCHD awarded a record $10 million in grants to 317 self-help projects in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Grants are awarded based on need, and often serve as "seed money," enabling low-income organizations to attract support from other sources.

A past recipient of CCHD funding is the Women Excel project sponsored by the New Image Foundation in St. Thomas. Over the past three years, this organization has received $75,000 from CCHD and trained more than 100 low-income women in job skills and allowed them to move from welfare to the work force while instilling self-esteem and confidence. Many women are also counseled in the development of entrepreneurial skills, providing the incentive to start their own home-based businesses.

"All projects assisted by CCHD are intended to bring about permanent change and to develop better leaders, to provide better housing or to promote employability," Murry explained. "These are not stopgap measures, but are measures designed to end poverty for a lifetime."

Since its inception 32 years ago, CCHD has been committed to the elimination of poverty and injustice in the United States. CCHD has supported more than 4,000 projects that know no racial or religious boundaries, projects that help create jobs, improve neighborhoods and offer long-term solutions to poverty.

In addition to raising funds to support organized groups of poor and low-income people to develop economic strength and influence in the community, the campaign has a second mandate from the bishops – education about poverty. CCHD works to sensitize Catholics and all Americans about the social and economic problems that exist in the United States, as well as to promote new approaches that can resolve problems and promote solidarity among people.

The new CCHD chairman has been active on a number of U.S. Bishops' policy committees.

Bishop Murry is currently a member of the Committee on African-American Catholics, the Communications Committee and the Committee on Consecrated Life. He also serves as a consultant to the Committee on the Liturgy. He was elected chairman of the Committee on African-American Catholics from 1996-99, and he was previously a member of the CCHD Committee from 1996-98.

For more information, or to contact Catholic Campaign for Human Development, see their website at: www.nccbuscc.org/cchd/