Earlier this week, the Lepanto Institute revealed that the president of the World Meeting of Families had donated thousands of dollars to political candidates that thoroughly support abortion and same-sex “marriage. He even donated $1,000 to a candidate who founded a Planned Parenthood facility in Philadelphia, and served as its executive director for 13 years.Even after repeated attempts to speak with Ken Gavin, the Archdiocesan Communications Director, through the phone and by email about this matter, the Archdiocese chose to ignore these attempts and then issue the following statement:
Ken,
I wanted to alert you and Archbishop Chaput to some new information I have obtained regarding the leadership team of the World Meeting of Families. Given our last correspondence, I wanted to make sure to send the information to you and the Archbishop before publishing my findings, which I plan to do next week. Of course, if you have any comments on the information I am providing, I will be happy to incorporate them into my article. Given that Archbishop Chaput has forbidden LGBT activist organizations to use Church grounds during the World Meeting of Families, I would imagine that if he was aware of the backgrounds of these individuals, he would equally have not allowed them to obtain leadership positions for the event.
(fully detailed information contained in both this article and the one on Ciaruffoli were provided here, before the closing line …)
Please let me know if any of my information is mistaken. I have already put in a set of questions to Mr. Ciaruffoli. And as I said, I am happy to make any corrections and include any comments from the Archdiocese regarding this information. My deadline is 5:00 PM, Monday, August 24.
God bless,
Michael
Due to a lack of response, the deadline was moved to 1:00PM the following day in order to allow for the possibility of discussing this matter by phone. Gavin did not return either phone message left for him that morning.
Since the Communications department for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has decided to continue to ignore the information provided by the Lepanto Institute and instead chose to slander our intentions, we have no choice but to publish the rest of our findings.
After receiving a tip about the president of the World Meeting of Families, the Lepanto Institute investigated members of the Executive Cabinet, finding that several of them have worked very hard against Catholic moral teaching on matters pertaining to life and marriage. Several members of the leadership team, including honorary co-chairs, co-chairs of the leadership cabinet and cabinet members either promote abortion and homosexuality themselves, or they are presidents and CEOs of companies that do.
While it may be understandable that such a large event would require planners to work with individuals who attack the Church, that doesn’t mean they should be given honorary titles or places of prominence in the event itself. For example, while the annual March for Life in Washington, DC certainly requires a lot of planning, coordination and permissions from local officials, the pro-abortion mayor of Washington, DC’s name has never appeared on any March for Life Literature.
Even the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has an official policy regarding the provision of awards, honors and platforms for individuals who actively and openly defy Catholic moral teaching. The policy is:
“The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
Considering the positions taken by the following individuals listed as members of the leadership of the World Meeting of Families, either by themselves or as leaders of their companies, the World Meeting of Families should strongly consider removing their names from the website and published materials. All of this information was sent to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, but no response from the Archdiocese was provided by press time.
Tom Wolf
- Is reported to be “the first governor in the history of the country who was also a former Planned Parenthood clinic escort.”
- Wolf appointed a Planned Parenthood executive to his transition team.
- Wolf’s nominee for Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro Cortes is responsible for the failure to take swift action against the notorious abortionist, Kermit Gosnell.
- Wolf is an active supporter and promoter of same-sex “marriage.”
- Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards gave a 2 minute video plug for Tom Wolf as he ran for governor.
//youtu.be/tbUU8JDM2ms
Michael Nutter
- Following the trials of Kermit Gosnell, Nutter touted the “safe” abortions women had access to in Philadelphia.
- In 2011, Nutter launched a massive campaign to distribute condoms to teenagers.
- In January of 2015, Nutter himself conducted a same-sex “marriage” of two Israeli diplomats.
Executive Leadership Cabinet Co-Chairs
David L. Cohen
- Raised $1.2 million for Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.
- Is planning to host a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton.
- Is on the advisory board of the racist, pro-abortion, pro-same-sex ‘marriage’, National Council of La Raza.
- In 2011, put LGBT activist Mark Segal on the Join Diversity Council for Comcast, telling him, “Mark, you of all people in the LGBT community should appreciate this opportunity to create change in the media.”
- In 2013, Cohen did a video interview with Mark Segal on the LGBT diversity project, singing the praises of homosexuality
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_KPs7Ci7JM
Brian L. Roberts
- Works with Cohen, and is also a promoter and in a leadership position of the Joint Diversity Council of Comcast.
- More on Roberts and the Joint Diversity Council
- With Brian L. Roberts’ support, Comcast “offers special multicultural programming collections that inform and entertain, both On Demand and Online. These collections include … LGBT Pride Month.”
- As CEO of Comcast, Roberts is responsible for Comcast contributions to the racist, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual National Council of La Raza, the pro-abortion Center for American Progress, and the pro-abortion Girls Inc.
Executive Leadership Cabinet Members
Denise Morrison
- She is the President and CEO of Campbell’s Soup.
- To show the connection, here is an article on Campbell’s Soup’s website about volunteering at the 2015 World Meeting of Families.
- In 2009, Campbell’s Soup ran ads depicting homosexual “families.“
- In 2011, Campbell’s Soup was listed as a supporter of Planned Parenthood.
- In 2014, Campbell’s Soup was listed as one of the “best places to work for LGBT equality“
- In 2012, Campbell’s Soup sponsored a homosexual event in Philadelphia.
Eric Foss
- President and CEO of Aramark since 2012, and soon-to-be chairman of the board as well:
- In 2014, Aramark earned 100% on the Human Rights Campaign’s LGBT workplace equality scorecard.
- Aramark received similar marks in 2013.
- Aramark was one of the 379 companies signing an Amicus Brief asking the Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex “marriage”
At a time when advocates for abortion, contraception, same-sex “marriage” and all manner of evil are pressing their attack against the Catholic Church and the very nature of TRUE families, such advocates should not be given any honorary positions or positions of leadership in any capacity at a Catholic event; especially one focused on upholding the very things that these individuals and their corporations are seeking to destroy. The book of Wisdom speaks well to this very situation:
Never trust your enemies,
for their wickedness is like corrosion in bronze.
Even though they act deferentially and peaceably toward you,
take care to be on your guard against them.
Treat them as those who reveal secrets,
and be certain that in the end there will still be envy.
Do not let them stand near you,
lest they push you aside and take your place.
Do not let them sit at your right hand,
or they will demand your seat,
And in the end you will appreciate my advice,
when you groan with regret, as I warned.
Who pities a snake charmer when he is bitten,
or anyone who goes near a wild beast? (Sirach 12:10-13)
Contact information for World Meeting of Families
email – [email protected]
phone – 1-855-WMF-2015
An actual abortion clinic deathscort as co-chair of the world meeting of families.
Psss….Don’t let Pope Francis knows about your discoveries otherwise he will issue an encyclical insulting you and calling your a denier of global warming, err… of climate change, err… of man-made climate change, err… of hatred toward the Catholic Church represented by her abortionists, homosexuals, transsexuals and gay-marriage advocates. And also accusing you of ruining his visit to the U.S. where he intends to lecture the American people about the benefits of Marxism and accusing us of destroying his mother earth.
Welcome to the new “Roman Catholic Church” – Big tent…
Great job once again in exposing outrages like this, Michael. The Archdiocese’s response sounds like it’s straight out of Rules for Radicals. I’d like to know who is behind these appointments anyway? The Catholic Church is so infiltrated with communists, progressives and homosexuals that it will take a miracle to right the ship. Pray and fast that God grants us that miracle.
Michael,
I don’t know what to say. I’m so overwhelmed with your research.
What a absolute disgrace, to inform the Archdiocese of these people and not receive the professional courtesy of a reply.
Thank You,
Cole
PS: would they let Lepanto have a booth at their event?
Cole,
This is an unbelievably sad situation, and I really wish the Archdiocese had responded with some reasonable explanation that would have prevented me from publishing any of this. As for the Lepanto Institute hosting a booth, I’d have to say that if they would have permitted us before, that is probably no longer the case.
God bless,
Michael
And where exactly is Archbishop Chaput in all this?
I know many will think this is just a non-sequitor, but trust me that it is more than it appears.
I’ve had a bad feeling about Chaput ever since he raved about that utterly filthy, degenerate film “Calvary”. http://dsdoconnor.com/2014/12/14/when-good-shepherds-let-in-the-wolves/
Are these people board members for The World Meeting s of Families or are they board members for the bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development???? Hard to tell the difference.
Its starting to look like Archbishop Chaput talks with a fork tongue. Just recently the Archbishop just accused Michael Hichborn and Michael Voris are destructive in the Holy Catholic Church for telling the Truth about having Baby Killers leading a forum on The Family. Perhaps it’s the Archbishop Chaput that should reflect what he is doing and make some changes or else he is the one being destructive to the Holy Catholic Church not Hichborn or Voris where they are the ones who are fighting the good fight. Perhaps this is what makes Archbishop Chaput makes his skin crawl.
Gregory the Great took the words out of my mouth. Thank You Lepanto Institute
for just the facts. Obviously Archbishop Chaput doesn’t want to hear any of
this controversy. I hope Cardinal Dolan, the U.S.C.C.B. or Pope Francis address this
soon. This news is very destructive to the life of the Holy Catholic Church. I now can
see how some Catholics feel that those that are in authority are saying one thing
and then doing something totally hypocritical. There is no excuse for those in charge of the World Meeting of Families to have any ties to Planned Parenthood.
Mr. Hichborn references donations made 7 to 9 years ago to pro-abortion candidates by World Meeting of Families President, Robert Ciaruffoli. Since that time, Mr. Ciaruffoli has drawn closer to the Lord & grown in his Catholic faith. He is a different person than he was 7 years ago. Why does Mr. Hichborn find it so necessary to reveal someone’s transgressions from years ago? The red flag should have been the length of time that has passed since those donations were made.
As for the other members listed on the leadership team, I would say that Mr. Hichborn is justified to be concerned about them as the issues cited seem to be recent or current.
I used to belong to that Archdiocese. It is rampant with heretics. RCIA was one of the most painful things I had ever endured It is run by insane DRE’s. I still remember the day 9/11 happened and every one ran to church. The priest would not refer to Jesus ask king and his explanation for the terrorists’ behavior
“Just think what some one must have done to them”. After the crazy DRE was giving out happy cards with a stupid grin on her face. The worst attack since Pearl Harbor and that was all they could do.
Vickie please contact me. 9184243575
Thank you for this.