The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is the domestic antipoverty and social justice program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops and United States Catholic Conference, it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic...

 (USCCB).

CCHD was begun in 1969 as the "National Catholic Crusade Against Poverty" by the Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 bishops in the United States, in part as a response to Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI

Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

's encyclical

Encyclical

An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Catholic Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop...

 Populorum progressio

Populorum Progressio

Populorum progressio is the encyclical written by Pope Paul VI on the topic of "the development of peoples" and that the economy of the world should serve mankind and not just the few...

("The Progress of Peoples"). CCHD's mission

Mission statement

A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making...

 is "to address the root causes of poverty in America through promotion and support of community-controlled self-help organizations and through transformative social justice

Social justice

Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...

, education, and solidarity between poor and non-poor."

CCHD is supported by an annual collection in U.S. Catholic parishes, and individual donations.

Projects

Through annual grants provided in collaboration with local dioceses, CCHD funds community organizations, community-run schools, minority-owned cooperatives and credit unions, capital for business development and job training programs, and setting up rural cooperatives. CCHD has distributed over 80,000 grants to date. Examples of CCHD efforts to help the diadvantaged are that they worked to provide people "access to energy-efficient, green opportunities funded by the federal economic stimulus program" and to get the city of Boston and its contract vendors to remove questions about some past crimes from job aplications.

Criticism

CCHD has come under fire from critics within the Church, alleging that the organization was promoting abortion

Abortion

Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...

, contraception

Contraception

Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...

 and radical politics by funding the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now was a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues...

, and that the CCHD was a force of internal corruption within the USCCB.
CCHD has responded in 2008 that all projects are consistent with Catholic doctrine, all grant proposals are reviewed by a committee of bishops and approved by the local diocese before being funded, and funded projects are monitored during the life of the grant. Criticism continues in 2011.