Funding from Catholic Bishops gave Obama his start in community organizing in Chicago-Catholic Democrats

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Article geared to Nov. 2008 elections notes Catholic Church gave Obama his start in community organizing in Chicago and quotes Obama saying so:

2008, "The Catholic case for Obama," Catholic Democrats
 
"The Catholic perspective on American political life is very much shaped by Catholic Social Teaching, a view of the world developed over the past 120 years through a series of church encyclicals, synods and pastoral letters addressing the dignity of the individual and in particular the plight of the world’s poor. This book tells the story of Barack Obama’s early exposure to Catholicism, compares the contours of his public life with the Catholic Social Tradition, and explores the reasons why many Catholics will be enthusiastically voting for the Obama/Biden ticket in 2008.
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Americans are weary of being pitted against one another over issues of race, disparity of wealth, and religion. Senator Obama has made bringing Americans together to solve common problems the central theme of his campaign, along with restoring the pride Americans once felt about our country’s historical role as a moral leader among nations. The cornerstones of Catholic Social Teaching are justice and reconciliation. The Catholic path takes us away from the divisions and hostilities of the present, and toward a more peaceful future.

In his early career, Barack Obama took a job working as a community organizer for a group of eight Catholic parishes in Chicago, one of the nation's largest cities. With funding from the U.S. Bishops, he worked for three years out of an office in a Catholic church rectory to empower thousands of people who were suffering through tough economic times not unlike what we are seeing now. Reminiscing about his time working in this neighborhood, Barack said in an October 2008 interview with Catholic Digest, "I got my start as a community organizer working with mostly Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago that were struggling because the steel plants had closed. The Campaign for Human Development [CCHD] helped fund the project, and so very early on, my career was intertwined with the belief in social justice that is so strong in the Church."...

Taken all together, Senator Obama is a man who is familiar the Catholic Social Tradition, and has striven throughout his life to work for the common good. He chose a Catholic running mate [Biden] who has similarly dedicated during 35 years in the Senate to a safer America, both at home and abroad. Senator Obama has proposed a new, more constructive approach to solving the abortion problem in a way that brings people together rather than pitting them against one another. On questions ranging from war to environmental stewardship, and from fairness to the alleviation of poverty, he has demonstrated himself to be someone who merits serious consideration by every Catholic voting in 2008."...

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Ed. note: This article appears to be a review of a 2008 book about Obama and his Catholic roots. I was unable to find the book listed on Amazon.

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Catholic Democrats lists its Board members as Ted Kennedy's widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and Thomas P. O'Neill III, among others.

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2010 article, 10+ Catholic Bishops stop CCHD (Catholic Campaign for Human Development) collections over questions about grant practices and recipients:

7/7/2010, "10 dioceses quit bishops' antipoverty campaign," National Catholic Reporter, Jerry Filteau

"At least 10 U.S. bishops have decided within the past year to suspend or drop their annual collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development in their dioceses, and another is withholding funds at least for now. 

Bishop Bernard Hebda of Gaylord, Mich., said in June that he has decided to delay sending the diocese’s annual donation to the campaign until a review of its grant practices is completed. The U.S. bishops’ subcommittee on the campaign is currently reviewing funding practices and gave a preliminary report to the bishops’ Administrative Committee in March.

Several of the bishops who have decided to suspend or drop the collection cited concerns about some grant recipients. Some recipients have had to return grants when church officials learned they were directly involved in some activity not in accord with Catholic moral and social teaching. Grant recipients are required to certify that they do not engage in any such activities."...


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