Catholic Campaign for Human Development

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is the national anti-poverty and social justice program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)

Catholic Campaign for Human Development

Formation	1969
Headquarters	Washington, DC
Director	Ralph McCloud
Website	https://www.usccb.org/committees/catholic-campaign-human-development

History

CCHD was begun in 1969 as the National Catholic Crusade Against Poverty by the Catholic bishops in the United States, in part as a response to Pope Paul VI's encyclical Populorum progressio ("The Progress of Peoples"). CCHD's mission 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, education, and solidarity between poor and non-poor".^[1]

The Campaign had its origins in the 1960s with Chicago priest (and later Bishop) Michael Dempsey while serving as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish on the West Side.^[2] He served as the organization's first leader after his appointment as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese.^[3] Future cardinal Joseph Bernardin also played a major role in its founding.

CCHD is supported by an annual collection in U.S. Catholic parishes, and individual donations. Allegations that some CCHD-funded organizations were promoting abortion, contraception and radical politics, and that the CCHD was a force of internal corruption within the USCCB^[4] were addressed in 2010 with the Review and Renewal of CCHD,^[5] which affirmed the core mission of CCHD and instituted controls to ensure that all CCHD-funded initiatives are consistent with Catholic mission and identity.^{[citation needed]}

CCHD had revenues of $18.1 million for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017.^[6]