Communication Design & American Catholic Church 21st Century 4
The
in the
By Arlene M. O’Reilly
The
Communication Design & American Catholic Church 21st Century in the
by Arlene Ann Michelle O’Reilly B.F.A., St. John’s University, 1989
THESIS
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Advertising Design in the Graduate School of Syracuse University.
February 2008
Approved
Date
Advertising Design &
American Catholic Church
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The Catholic Church is steeped in rich history. Communication was the most effective tool in its growth. The creation of the New Testament, combined with the Old Testament developed into the King James Bible. To communicate and spread the Christian message, the Catholic Church had forged paths in all directions. The growth of this new religion happened at a remarkable speed for that time period. Within 300 years, Christianity became a dominant religion, and is the largest religion in the world today. Credit is due to the men and women who were the foundation of the Catholic Church. Without their passion, perseverance and dedication, the world would look very different today. Saints of the Catholic Church were messengers who were effective role models. Their existence and seemingly extraordinary abilities spread knowledge of the Church’s views, widely and quickly, all by word of mouth up to the 18th century.
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Abstract
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The Catholic Church’s many wonderful deeds have inspired works of art from masters such as, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, DaVinci’s the Last Supper, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and the Book of Kells, all designed to reach the highest level of achievement possible. Ultimately they all have withstood the change of time, as these works of arts’ appeal has never diminished. As amazing as all these achievements are, the Catholic Church has also had its history of malevolent events that occurred in order to achieve growth. The crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Native American history, internal corruption that led to the branching off of new divisions of Christianity: Protestants, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Born Again Christians, etc. Each generation has had its own set of problems to deal with. As we advance, so do the problems.
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The success of the Catholic Church is partially attributed to effective means of communications and strategic planning. The primary focus of this study explores how the American Catholic Church is using communication techniques today in the 21st century. This study is a result of qualitative research in collecting material from 29 archdiocese around the United States. In addition to direct mail, that material includes samples of educational campaigns, promotions, fundraiser promotions, magazines from various Catholic organizations. Quantitative research was also used in interviews by telephone to key communication directors involved in the 17 case studies that I have selected for examination in Chapters Two, Three and Four. A secondary focus was given to communication problems of the American Catholic Church. Samples of newspaper articles, documentaries, news broadcasts, and magazine articles were used. In addition, personal interviews were conducted with a Catholic nun and a professional mental health consultant. Also incorporated is research information that was obtained from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University, the American Psychiatric Association, and the Department of Public Information, United Nations. The thought had occurred to me, if I had written this thesis in the 18th century, I could have been accused of heresy and burned at the stake. At the very least, I would have been excommunicated. Of course this material is completely focused on Catholic campaigns and events that happened in the
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beginning of the 21 century, and without technology, this would have taken a lifetime to produce. Constant efforts were made to remain objective in my approach, and caution that some sections may be challenging to readers, both Catholic and all other. In understanding the basic history of the Catholic Church, it shows a balance of innovative communication methods and successful strategic planning. My findings are that the Catholic Church is still using strategic planning, but I am not finding the same level of innovative communication methods. Therefore, the Catholic Church is appearing to operate more as keystone organization, which it is, but, it is not communicating as a religion, which it is as well, at the same level that it once did. Its audience is changing rapidly. The Catholic Church is challenged to keep up in the 21st century.
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By Arlene M. O’Reilly
© 2008 Arlene M. O’Reilly All rights reserved. No part of this material shall be reproduced or utilized in any manner, electronically or mechanically, without the written permission of the author. IV
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Acknowledgement Many sincere thanks to my parents for teaching me to trust myself, to my grandmother Ruby for teaching me the passion of history, to my friend and editor, Tracy Leddy, to my thesis advisor, Ken Hine, to my counselor, Jill Mooradian, to my family and friends, particularly Kimberly Guertin, Sara O’Reilly, Vivian Ferrara-Machado and Natalie Ciminero for their support throughout this journey. I thank my crew at Mind’s Eye Productions, especially, Michele Linstedt, and Glen Weimer for allowing me to drop out of existence for weeks at a time. Without your patience, understanding and help, it would not have been possible.
This work is dedicated to Sister Catherine O’Shea and Sister Nancy McDermott, and to all who surrender their lives to serve the divine greater good.
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Figure
Illustrations
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Table of
1-1. 1-2. 1-3. 1-4. 1-5. 1-6. 1-7. 1-8. 1-9. 1-10. 2-1. 2-2. 2-3. 2-4. 2-5. 2-6. 2-7. 2-8. 2-9. 2-10. 2-11. 2-12. 2-13. 2-14. 2-15. 2-16. 2-17. 2-18. 2-19. 2-20. 2-21. 2-22. 2-23. 2-24. 2-25. 2-26. 2-27. 2-28. 2-29. 2-30. 2-31. 2-32. 2-33.
USCCB statistics, American Catholic population USCCB statistics, American Catholic ethical population CARA statistics, American Catholic geographical region statistics, global religion population pie chart statistics, growth rate of global population U.S. seminary enrollment trend chart Catholic elementary school revenue chart Catholic Church national collections chart Catholic Church national collections totals chart USCCB poster for “Respect Life” campaign USCCB stem cell “Joshua” ad USCCB stem cell “Miner” ad Feminists for Life “Women Deserve Better” brochure “Women Deserve Better” color ad “Second Look Project” color print ad one “Second Look Project” color print ad two “Second Look Project” color postcard “Respect for Life” animation “Project Rachel” print ad one “Project Rachel” radio spot one “Project Rachel” radio spot two “Project Rachel” metro bus/train ad “Project Rachel” radio spot three “Project Rachel” print ad two “Project Rachel” print ad three “Project Rachel” print ad four “Project Rachel” radio spot four “Project Rachel” radio spot five “Project Rachel” radio spot six “Project Rachel” radio spot seven “Project Rachel” radio spot eight “Project Rachel” radio spot nine “Project Rachel” radio spot ten “Project Rachel” radio spot eleven “It All Starts with Faith” TV spot one “It All Starts with Faith” TV spot two “It All Starts with Faith” TV spot three “It All Starts with Faith” TV spot four “It All Starts with Faith” TV spot five “It All Starts with Faith” TV spot six “It All Starts with Faith” TV spot seven “It All Starts with Faith” TV spot eight “It All Starts with Faith” TV spot nine
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2-34. 2-35. 2-36. 2-37. 2-38. 2-39. 2-39. 2-40. 2-41. 2-42. 3-1. 3-2. 3-3. 3-4. 3-5. 3-6. 3-7. 3-8. 3-9. 3-10. 3-11. 3-12. 3-13. 3-14. 3-15. 3-16. 3-17. 3-18. 3-19. 3-20. 3-21. 3-22. 3-23. 3-24. 3-25. 3-26. 3-27. 3-28. 4-1. 4-2. 4-3. 4-4. 4-5. 4-6.
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“Clouds” TV spot one “Clouds” TV spot two “Clouds” TV spot three Pure Love Club home page website Pure Love Club products one Pure Love Club products two Pure Love Club products three Pure Love Club products four Pure Love Club products five Knights of Columbus “Pray for Peace” print ad Constantine Before the Battle at Milvian Bridge USCCB political responsibility brochure one USCCB political responsibility brochure two Washington, D.C. Archdiocese home page Audio script of “Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” one Audio script of “Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” continued “Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” cover “Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” print ad Catholic Answers Voters Guide video one Catholic Answers Voters Guide video two Catholic Answers Voters Guide video three “Walk for Life” logo “Walk for Life” color print ad one “Walk for Life” color print ad two “Walk for Life” website page Feminists for Life ad one Feminists for Life ad two Vatican flag Catholics for Free Choice ad one NY Times article on John Kerry & Catholic Church Catholics for Free Choice ad two Catholics for Free Choice ad three Catholics for Free Choice ad four Catholics for Free Choice ad five Catholics for Free Choice ad six Catholics for Free Choice ad seven Catholics for Free Choice award one Catholics for Free Choice award two Catholics Charities ad one Catholics Charities ad two Catholics Charities survey one Catholics Charities survey two Catholics Charities survey three Catholics Charities ad three
41 41 41 44 44 44 45 45 45 47 52 53 54 55 58 59 60 61 62 62 62 63 63 64 64 65 65 66 71 72 73 74 74 75 75 76 77 77 83 83 84 85 85 86
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4-7. 4-8. 4-9. 4-10. 4-11. 4-12. 4-13. 4-14. 4-15. 4-16. 4-17. 4-18. 4-19. 4-20. 4-21. 4-22. 4-23. 4-24. 4-25. 4-26. 4-27. 4-28. 4-29. 4-30. 4-31. 4-32. 4-33. 4-34. 4-35. 4-36. 4-37. 4-38. 4-39. 4-40. 4-41. 4-42. 4-43. 5-1. 5-2. 5-3.
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Catholics Charities ad four Catholics Charities ad five Catholics Charities ad six Catholic Extensions magazine cover one Catholic Extensions magazine cover two Catholic Extensions magazine cover three Catholic Extensions magazine cover four Catholic Extensions magazine cover five Catholic Extensions magazine cover six Catholic Extensions magazine cover seven Catholic Extensions magazine cover eight Catholic Extensions illustration for gift card Catholic Extensions illustration for gift card Catholic Extensions calendar cover Archdiocese of Chicago “Holy Fire” cover Archdiocese of Chicago “Holy Fire” home page “Come Home for Christmas” print ad one “Come Home for Christmas” print ad two “Come Home for Christmas” print ad three “Come Home for Christmas” print ad four USCCB “Poverty USA” banner ad USCCB “Poverty USA” flash animation one USCCB “Poverty USA” flash animation two USCCB “Poverty USA” print ad one USCCB “Poverty USA” print ad two USCCB “Poverty USA” print ad three USCCB “Poverty USA” flash animation one USCCB “Poverty USA” flash animation two USCCB “Poverty USA” flash animation three USCCB “Poverty USA” flash animation four USCCB “Poverty USA” flash animation five USCCB “Poverty USA” flash animation six USCCB “Poverty USA” flash animation seven USCCB “Poverty USA” flash animation eight USCCB “Poverty USA” banner ad one USCCB “Poverty USA” banner ad two USCCB “Poverty USA” print ad American Catholic clergy statistics American Catholic Nuns Twentieth Century trends American Catholic Seminary enrollment trends
86 87 87 89 89 90 90 90 91 91 91 92 92 92 94 95 96 97 97 97 98 99 99 100 101 101 102 102 102 102 103 103 103 103 104 104 104 108 108 109
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Contents
4
Table of
The
Chapter One
Introduction
1
Chapter Two
Moral Campaigns
21
Chapter Three
Political Campaigns
51
Chapter Four
Self Promotions & Fundraising
80
Chapter Five
Problems for the Catholic Church
106
Chapter Six
Conclusion
145
Biography
149
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As a child, I experienced my neighborhood Catholic Church as an ancient and sacred place. The candlelight on the statues, the music echoing off the cathedral ceilings, the smell of incense, all stimulated my imagination. As an adult, I still appreciate these experiences upon entering a church, but view the Catholic Church with slightly less awe. As I have come to understand more of the Church’s rich history, I realize that Catholicism began as an idea, and evolved into an independent religion and political organization that has been run by a dedicated and savvy group of men and women for more than two thousand years. These men and women of the Catholic faith have essentially shaped the Church into a leading, global religion. Catholicism has played a crucial part in world history, setting examples of both human virtues and vices.
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Introduction Chapter
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Early Christians communicated the Christian message orally. The development of The New Testament, which, with the Old Testament, formed the Bible, codified the Church’s views. Oral traditions used the art of story-telling as effective communication. Traditions were told in story form before the written word was widely available and before people could read. The Bible kept traditional forms of story-telling, illustrated with accounts of miracles to inspire the faithful. Many passages in the Bible were used primarily for teaching and converting others. To spread the word of the Christian message, early Christian leaders needed to create systems of communication. To communicate effectively to an illiterate audience, the Church designed experiences that would appeal to all senses and represent Christian beliefs. Gothic architecture, choral music, incense, art and sculpture were all effective in creating a memorable experience for the faithful which continues to work in modern times. The early Christians were not the first to create a “sacred space,” but they did establish the Christian image that is strongly recognizable today. These religious Chapter One Introduction
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communication techniques can be viewed as a remote but potent influence on advertising design. As an organization, the Roman Catholic Church has historically excelled in its ability to communicate its message, setting the standard two thousand years ago that is still used today in communication design. Globalization and technology have provided opportunities for people to gain more knowledge, culture, and tolerance – perhaps even spirituality - than ever before. With this broadening of thought, many people continue to ask routinely, “Where did I come from?” People with traditional backgrounds, such as most Catholics, often challenge old rules of authority with new confidence found in this widening knowledge. How is the Catholic Church handling this period of rapidly-changing technology and subsequent changes in human attitudes? And, with the emergence of the recent priest pedophile scandals, how is the Church communicating to the public its role of leadership during this crisis? Within the United States, what part, if any, does advertising design play in the role of communication for the Catholic Church? This thesis is an exploration of how advertising design is used in the American Catholic Church in the 21st century. Other Christian branches, such as the Episcopalian, United Methodist, Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches in the United States, use direct advertising method, such as TV commercials and print ads, to attract churchgoers. The American Catholic Church does not use the same direct techniques. Instead, the Catholic Church, through its Bishops, advertises basically on moral issues to propagate its views. The American Catholic Church also has a powerful network of affiliated groups which run their own campaigns in keeping with the Church’s views.
Chapter One Introduction
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The methods of research used in this thesis are: 1) Qualitative research to collect material from 29 archdiocese around the United States. In addition, samples of direct mail, educational and political campaigns, promotions, fundraiser promotions, and magazines were obtained from various Catholic organizations. 2) Quantitative research to interview, by telephone, key communication directors involved in the 17 case studies that I have selected for examination. A secondary focus was given to communication problems of the American Catholic Church. Samples of newspaper articles, documentaries, news broadcasts, and magazine articles were used. In addition, personal interviews were conducted with a Catholic nun and a professional mental health consultant. Also incorporated is research information that was obtained from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University, the American Psychiatric Association, and the Department of Public Information, United Nations. All archdiocesan websites show links that network with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Most archdiocesan websites have additional networks with other Catholic organizations. The majority of the archdiocese do not engage much in advertising, with the exception of a few in major metropolitan areas, such as Washington, DC, Chicago, San Francisco and New York. My research shows that the USCCB and the Catholic network use various forms of communication: print advertising, websites, flash animations (vector file animation, used primarily for the web), radio and television commercials, brochures, publications and promotional materials such as calendars, posters, t-shirts, mugs and jewelry.
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The Catholic Population: Size and Trends Research shows that in the United States, there are 195 archdiocese and diocese. In recent years, there have been varying degrees of change in the organization of parishes in the different regions of the U.S., as shown in Figure 1-3. This chart shows change in linked or clustered parishes, merged parishes, closed parishes, as well as replacement of pastors. It is interesting that the Northeast shows the highest percentage of change: there are dramatic numbers of parishes merging. The Northeast also has the highest percentage of parishes closing, and of replacing pastors. The western and southern parts of the U.S. have the lowest percentage of change.
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U.S. Demographics
The populations of Catholics in the U.S. and globally are increasing. The reason is that the global population is growing at a dramatic rate, as shown in Figure 1-4.
Growth Rate of U.S. Catholic Population
Percentage of Ethnic/Racial Groups in the U.S.
Figure 1-1: USCCB Statistics - American Catholic Population Figure 1-2: USCCB Statistics - American Catholic Ethical Population
Chapter One Introduction
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Parish Reorganization by Geographical Region
Figure 1-3: CARA Statistics - American Catholic Geographical Region
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Global Religion Population 33% 21% 1% 5% 5% 5%
us no e g di in l a im Pr
16%
14%
Global Statistics
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Figure 1- 4: Global Religion Pie
Growth Rate of Global Population 10
Population in billions
Total world population
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
2050
Figure 1-5: Global Population Growth Chart Chapter One Introduction
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In 2004, there were 67,259,768 Catholics in the United States; 22.7% of the U.S. population. 1 There were 1,070,315,000 Catholics worldwide; 16.6% of the world population. Catholicism is the historical foundation of Christianity, and Christians represent 76% of the American population, and 33% of the population of the world, 2 as shown in figure 1-3.
Seminary Enrollment Trends: 1968-2004
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Seminary Trends
One important trend is the decline of Catholic seminary enrollment in the U.S. Since the 1967-1968 academic year, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University has collected enrollment data for priesthood formation programs at the theologate, college, and high school levels in the U.S. CARA also collects data on the three priesthood formation programs abroad which are sponsored by the Catholic hierarchy of the U.S.: the North American College in Rome and the American College in
U.S. Seminary Enrollment Trends: 1968-2004
Figure 1-6: Seminary Enrollment Trend Chart Chapter One Introduction
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Louvain, Belgium, as well as the Seminario Hispano de Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Mexico City. (This seminary was established in 2000 by the Archdiocese of Mexico and accepts Hispanic students from diocese in the U.S. who have a particular ministry to Hispanic Catholics in the United States.3) Seminary decline will be discussed further in Chapter Five, Problems for the Catholic Church.
American Catholic Church Revenue According to the Department of Communications of the United States Conference of Bishops (USCCB), Church revenue comes primarily through donations. Tuition in Catholic Schools is also a source of income, as shown in Figure 1-7. There is little profit after deducting the educational expense. The estimated per pupil cost for a student in a Catholic elementary school for 2002-2003 was $3,938. The total cost for Catholic elementary schools was $7,57 billion. The estimated per pupil cost for a student in a Catholic secondary school for 2002-2003 was $6,318. The total cost for Catholic secondary schools was $3,980,000,000.
4
Revenue
Average Percentage of Elementary School Revenue 2002 10 9 8 7
Tuition and Fees (56.6%) School Fundraising (8.4%)
6
Endowment (1.7%)
5
Parish Subdidy (24.1%)
4
Other (6.9%)
3 2 1 0
Figure 1-7: School Revenue Chart Chapter One Introduction
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Three National Collection Totals
YE AR
American Bishops’ Overseas Appeal (ABOA), Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), and National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO)
Figure 1-8: National Collections Chart
National Collections Totals, 1983-2002 National Collections American Bishops’ Overseas Appeal
Catholic Campaign for Human Development Church in Latin America
Catholic Communications Campaign
Total Diocesan National Collection Proceeds, 1983-2002 $255,698,147 $195,484,206 $88,440,921 $63,803,311
American Board of Catholic Missions/Home Missions Appeal
$121,208,384
Aid to the Church in Eastern Europe (total since 1991
$83,053,422
National Religious Retirement Office (total since 1998) TOTAL
$395,274,752
$1,202,961,143
Figure 1-9: National Collections Totals Chart
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Over 85% of the Catholic elementary schools received a parish subsidy during the 2000-2001 school year. In 1999, Catholic elementary schools received 24% of their budget from parish subsidy. This transfer of cash from the parish to the parish school amounted to approximately $1,3 billion for the year 2000 and an estimated $1,440,000,000 for 2002. Church collection totals from 1983-2002, shown in figures 17 and 1-8, reveal that the highest amounts of donations are for religious retirement, showing a total of $395,274,752. Out of the total sum of $1,202,961,143, $427,190,490 (36%) is allocated outside the U.S.4 $63,803,311 was the sum total for the Catholic Communications Campaign, which is a major component of this study.
The Catholic Church Hierarchy The American Catholic Church is a relatively small but important part of the Roman Catholic Church. Structurally, the Roman Catholic Church is one of the world’s most centralized religious faiths. The Patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church is the Pope. He rules from Vatican City, an independent state in the center of Rome, Italy. The Pope’s principal advisors are the Roman Curia and the College of Cardinals, his permanent synod, whose members make up most of the Curia. The Pope alone selects and appoints all bishops in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the members of the College of Cardinals. All members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy are answerable to the Pope in his capacity as patriarch, and to his Curia. The Pope with his Curia are known collectively as the “Holy See.”
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The Roman Catholic Church has a hierarchical structure of offices or titles, in descending order. They are: The Pope. Cardinals. Metropolitan Archbishops - heads of provinces who reside in important cities. They have no direct influence over the other bishops in the province, but they can call special allprovince councils. Diocesan Bishops - heads of diocese. Pastor or Parish Priest - head of a parish and responsible for the direct pastoral care of the community his parish serves. There are other offices in the Roman Church, but many of these are honorary and do not carry jurisdiction, with titles such as “primate” and “monsignor.”
Each pastor is completely in charge of the church to which he is assigned. He decides how to communicate with the public with regard to any form of advertising or fundraising promotions. The pastor also has the choice to work with any organization within the Catholic network. For example, the pastor may decide to work with Catholic Charities, and not work with Catholic Answers. A pastor may find that charitable appeal to his community would be more appropriate than a evangelical approach. The pastor can use a design style in his church promotions that he deems suitable (or available) to his community. An example of this will be shown in Chapter Four, in the “Walk for Life WC” case study. Within the U.S., I found little consistency in communication styles among the archdiocese. Budget constraints have an impact on the degrees of professionalism and the extent of advertising communication on the local church levels. With little room for effective campaigns on a vast scale, websites are the main source of communication for each church on the local level. The archdiocese maintain the
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umbrella websites, listing and linking to the local churches in their district. Each archdiocesan website is unique in design and content, the only commonalities being that each archdiocesan website displays its coat of arms on the home page, plus newly-added information on what was being done internally within the church to protect children against sex offenders. Analysis of 29 archdiocese revealed a “behind the scenes” Catholic network which is responsible for much advertising on behalf of the American Catholic Church.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Within the United States, the Archbishops have formed an organization called The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), whose purpose is to promote “the greater good.” The bishops constitute the membership of the Conference and are served by a staff of over 350 lay people and priests, located in Washington D.C. There is also an office of Film and Broadcasting in New York City, and a branch office of Migration and Refugee Services in Miami. With a 2002 budget of $131 million, the Conference is organized as a legal corporation registered in the District of Columbia. The USCCB’s purpose under civil law is: “To unify, coordinate, encourage, promote and carry on Catholic activities in the United States; to organize and conduct religious, charitable and social welfare work at home and abroad; to aid in education; to care for immigrants; and generally to enter into and promote by education, publication and direction the objects of its being”. 5 Figure 1-10: USCCB Umbrella Image for “Respect Life”
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The American Catholic Network In the 21st century, the American Catholic Church through the USCCB and its network is proactive in communicating through advertising and public relations. The USCCB seems to be effective in all its campaigns. The Catholic networks (independent Catholic organizations that specialize in human services or objectives that align with the Catholic Church) have campaigns of various degrees of effectiveness. The organizations themselves are so different in their objectives and by their very nature, their communication techniques vary in style and approach. The Catholic Organization Directory lists approximately 160 organizations in the U.S that network within the Church. Each organization has some measure of diocesan support, according to the guidelines set forth by the USCCB.6 These organizations cover a broad range of interests: education, print, broadcast, television, marketing, health care, law, children and teen services, insurance, travel & tours, dating services, shopping, civil services, politics, publishing, and spiritual practice. The next five chapters in this thesis are Chapter Two: Moral Advertising, Chapter Three: Political Advertising, Chapter Four: Fundraising and Self Promotions, Chapter Five: Problems for the Church and Chapter Six: Conclusion. I have selected the following organizations for case studies discussed in these chapters: Moral Advertising - USCCB, Catholic Answers, and Knights of Columbus. Political Advertising – USCCB, Catholic Answers, Archdiocese of San Francisco, The Holy See & The United Nations, and Catholics for Free Choice.
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Self Promotions and Fundraising – Catholic Charities, Catholic Extensions, Archdiocese of Chicago, IL, Washington, D.C., and the USCCB. Problems for the Catholic Church —The problems that will be reviewed are: 1) Changing demographics 2) Internal church communications 3) Vatican political involvement with the United Nations 4) Clergy crimes and breaking of vows 5) Consequences of condemnation of homosexuality
Moral Advertising In Chapter Two, the USCCB dominates the case studies because the USCCB’s primary communication focus is on a variety of campaigns spotlighting pro-life issues. These campaigns are run as ads, brochures, television and radio spots. In addition, the USCCB has produced multi-media campaign promotions that highlight clergy and parishioner achievements worthy of acclaim because they promote Catholic moral standards. Within the Catholic network is Catholic Answers, founded in 1982. It is one of the nation’s largest lay-run organizations for evangelization. Catholic Answers repeatedly supports promotion material, advertisements and campaigns that eventually lead back to the Catholic Church. For example, the Pure Love Club is a chastity outreach program based in San Diego, California, and is sponsored by Catholic Answers. The Pure Love Club does not use traditional forms of advertising in print; instead it uses a more interactive program in communications to teenagers about abstinence. Teenagers who follow the teaching of the Pure Love Club will be encouraged to remain parishioners.
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Another member organization of the Catholic network is the Knights of Columbus—a Catholic men’s fraternal benefit society that was formed to render financial aid to members and their families. Mutual aid and assistance are offered to sick, disabled and needy members and their families. Father Michael J. McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus in 1881 in New Haven, Connecticut. The fraternity has grown to more than 12,000 councils and 1.6 million members throughout the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Guam and Saipan. The Order has been called “the strong right arm of the Church,” and has been praised by popes, presidents and other world leaders, for support of the Church, programs of evangelization and Catholic education, civic involvement and aid to those in need. 7 The Knights of Columbus as an organization that is impressive in that its name is attached to many of the most powerful campaigns produced by the USCCB. The Knights of Columbus also created their own advertising campaign promotion for prayer in response to the September 11th attacks in the U.S.
Political Advertising Chapter Three explores how Catholics, both through the Church structure and outside, are using advertising and design as a call to action, or as a spotlight on issues of concern. The American Catholic Church campaigns on pro-life issues and strives to encourage the Church’s definition of traditional family values. The pro-life campaigns ultimately force the Church into the political arena of pro-life versus pro-choice debates. Church and State continue to overlap as American society grows with new cultural change, such as gay marriage and stem cell research. Historically, the Catholic Church has Chapter One Introduction
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influenced governments on decisions in civil law such as divorce. Its intentions are to uphold the Catholic perspective of moral behavior. However, conflicts between Church and State continue to escalate during modern times as the Catholic Church does not accept alternative lifestyles, and the U.S. government is bound to protect freedom of choice and exercise non-discrimination. The American Catholic Church has an active political involvement. The USCCB has developed a campaign to educate American Catholics on what they should look for in a presidential candidate — both positive and negative attributes. While the Church never showed favoritism to any particular presidential candidate, Catholic Answers developed its campaign to help American Catholics rule out presidential candidates who do not reflect the Church’s world views. The Church’s political promotional efforts developed from its concentration in morality. Each archdiocese is responsible for its own advertising. It is encouraged by the USCCB to use campaigns developed by the Catholic Communications Campaign (CCC - a division of the USCCB), but this is not a mandate. The various campaigns are essentially guidelines for the archdiocese to adapt. An example of this is the Walk for Life Campaign outlined in Chapter Three, which was further developed by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, CA. The Church’s political involvement is substantially influenced by the Vatican. In Chapter Three, there is a study of the relationship between the Church and the United Nations (UN) . The Catholic Church has a unique position within the UN, as the Catholic Church is both a religion and a state. As described previously, it consists of the Pope, the Roman Curia—the various departments and institutes that assist the Pope in running the Church—and the College of Cardinals. The Holy See is also the government of Vatican Chapter One Introduction
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City. 8 The Church is an independent state called Vatican City, in the center of Rome. The Holy See is the spiritual and temporal government of the Roman Catholic Church. Popes in their secular role have ruled portions of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years, until the mid-19th century, when many of the Papal States were seized by the newly-united Kingdom of Italy. In 1870, the Pope’s holdings were further circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed. Disputes between a series of “prisoner” popes and the Italian Kingdom were resolved in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy. In 1984, a concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain of the earlier treaty provisions, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian state religion. 9 Vatican City has its own flag, currency, radio station, and post office. There are approximately 1,000 citizens and fewer than 2,500 laypeople working for the Vatican. Stamp & coin designs, flag, radio & TV stations, uniforms and dress code, are elements of design that are part of the Catholic identity. Vatican City is unique. It’s the smallest state on earth, and has a universal impact like no other. Other religions do have some similarities with the Catholic Church, but none has the same positioning the Catholic Church has within the UN. The Holy See is a “non-member state permanent observer” at the United Nations. This status brings with it some of the privileges of a state at the UN, such as being able to speak and vote at UN conferences. Other religions participate in the UN as non-governmental organizations, with fewer privileges.
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Self Promotion & Fundraising Chapter Four is based on case studies of both self promotions and fundraising promotions by the Church. Returning to its core principles, an important goal of the Church is humanitarian aid. In order for the American Church to continue with its humanitarian missions, it must raise funds. The American Catholic Charities and Catholic Extensions have very specific goals and depend on donations to accomplish these goals. I have found these two organizations to have very different approaches in their communications. They maintain their own identity and both are effective, particularly in knowing their audiences. The Washington metro area sees a Church campaign every Christmas season as a very simple message reminding people to come to Church during the holiday season. To my surprise, this self-promotion campaign in 2004/2005, was not done by the archdiocese, but was donated by a law firm called the Institute for Justice. The Chicago archdiocese had produced a self-promotion in the form of a booklet. This was used as an internal communications tool, promoting evangelism. And last, but certainly not least, the USCCB produced material for a national fundraising campaign on poverty awareness. The seventeen case studies described in this thesis were chosen because of their objectives and styles used. Most of the cases shown were produced by advertising and public relations agencies. I approached the communication directors of various USCCB divisions and Catholic organizations, along with pastors, a primary source of information used.
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The involvement of professional agencies was usually limited to the creative aspect. The planning, development, distribution and placement were up to the Catholic organizations. Budget constraints often had an impact on how widely the campaigns were run, and the campaigns often required the generosity of the media network or publisher for donations of time and space. Every effort was made to get accurate information about each campaign, but in some cases, information was regrettably unobtainable.
Problems for the Catholic Church Chapter Five is examining the problems of the Catholic Church that are indirectly or directly results of communication or the lack there of. Information is a collaboration of issues revealed in Chapters Two, Three and Four. These points are: 1) Changing demographics in population growth, trends during seminary decline, closing of churches, aging infrastructure, parish decline, technology and globalization impacts. 2) The Vatican’s relation to the United Nations. 3) Internal church communications 4) Law Suits. 5) Understanding Pedophilia. 6) Church Consequences on Homosexual Condemnation, the resignation of Catholic Charities board members and internal conflicts with the Knights of Columbus. New information was added to points four, five and six and is a general accounting of media exposure on corruption found within the church, therefore causing financial decline.
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ENDNOTES 1 The Official Catholic Directory 2004, P.J. Kennedy & Sons, New Providence, NJ. 2004. Internet; accessed December 2004 http://www.usccb.org/comm/statisti.shtml 2 US. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration. U.S. Census Bureau, March 2004. Internet; accessed February 2005 http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/world.html 3 Gautier, Mary. Catholic Ministry Formation Enrollments: Statistical Overview for 2003-2004, CARA, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. March 2004 4 Catholic Information Project, The Catholic Church in America, Meeting Real Needs in Your Neighborhood, Department of Communications, USCCB. December 2003 5 USCCB Annual Report, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Jan 2003. Internet; accessed December 2004 http://www.usccb.org/cchd/annualreports.shtml. 6 Catholic Organizations on the Internet, The Catholic Internet Directory, Version 3.8. Internet; accessed December 2004 July1997. http://www.catholic-church.org/cid/organizations.html 7 About Us, The Knights of Columbus, 2004. Internet; accessed February 2005. http://www.kofc.org/aboutus.html 8 Baumgarten, Paul Maria. Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter. “The Vatican,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV. 1912 Robert Appleton Company. Internet; accessed April 2005. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15276b.htm 9 “The Holy See,” The World Fact Book. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA.gov), July 2005. Internet; accessed April 2005. http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/vt.htmll
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Two primary goals of the Church’s advertising are to express its position on moral issues and to promote awareness of specific areas in need of humanitarian aid. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the core Catholic organization that along with affiliate Catholic organizations, target the masses with moral campaign messaging. The USCCB has launched the Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC) at the turn of this century. The CCC produces and supports media projects that promote Christian values and the Catholic Church’s message through national broadcast (television & radio), web, and print media. An annual collection is taken up in the diocese, which remit 50% of the funds collected to the national office. From these funds, the USCCB Communication Committee makes grants as determined by its own recommendations. The portion of the collection retained by the diocese is used “inter alia” in local communication projects. Between 1983 and 2002, the CCC raised $63.8 million to support diocesan and national media efforts. 1 The affiliate organizations, such as Catholic Answers and Knights of Columbus, also raised money through various means in order to finance ad campaigns on issues they deemed important. Following are several case studies of ad campaigns developed by the USCCB, Catholic Answers and Knights of Columbus addressing the issues of abortion, stem cell research, Catholic values, sexual abstinence and the promotion of peace. The case studies were completed by studying available literature, including web-based materials, and conducting telephone interviews with people knowledgeable on various projects.
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USCCB’s Stem Cell Ads Problem— Science and religion debate the moral issues of the destruction and manipulation of the genesis of life in the interest of advancing science to save many lives. These debates argue a variety of topics, such as whether cloned embryos should be viewed as living and the ethics of using human eggs in stem cell tests. Many scientists state that stem cell research has the potential to help develop cures for diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and possibly heart disease and paralysis.2 The Catholic Church’s perspective is: in the course of embryonic stem cell research, scientists destroy human embryos, which the church would consider akin to abortion. The Church is not against all form of stem cell research; it accepts research involving adult stem cell research. To grow embryonic stem cells, scientists destroy embryos along the way. But adult stem cells are preferred, and can be gained from adults without hurting them. Stem cells can also be taken from the umbilical cord, which is discarded at birth anyway. Objective— To inform and educate on a global level concerning the difference between embryonic and adult stem cell research. Although the Catholic Church must maintain Figure 2-1: USCCB Stem Cell “Joshua” Ad Chapter Two
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a leadership position for pro-life in the stem cell debates, it is not against stem cell research itself, as long as it does not involve embryos. The Church is in full support of research with adult stem cells in treating juvenile diabetes, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, etc. Target Audience— In the U.S., it is seen as desirable to reach the educated middle to upper class Catholics on the complex issues of stem cell research. The objective encourages this audience to influence the Senate to vote “no” on the controversial issue of expanding federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
Figure 2-2: USCCB Stem Cell “Miner” Ad
Evaluation— These ads established the Catholic Church’s positioning for pro-life in the stem cell debates. The ads produced are effective when able to hold the readers attention. The editorial is wordy, and may need to be read a couple of times to understand the difference in the two approaches to stem cell research. The ad message educates the public on stem cell research and is a precursor of the Q&A flyer. These ads promote adult stem cell research. The stem cell debate is currently unresolved, as of summer of 2005. “In February 2006, authorized state funding of stem cell research, clearing the way for the bill to go to the floor of the House of Delegates. The bill calls for spending $25 million a year and allows research using embryonic stem cells (which many conservative lawmakers oppose), as well as the less controversial adult stem cells. Chapter Two
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The House's health panel approved the bill 14 to 10 and sent it to the chamber's Appropriations Committee, which voted 19 to 7 to send the bill to the floor. Both votes were largely along party lines, with Democrats supporting the bill and Republicans opposing it. Several Republicans objected to a preference in the bill for projects that are not eligible for federal funding, saying that would steer most, if not all, money to work on embryonic stem cells. Opponents object to that work because it involves the destruction of human embryos. President Bush restricted federal funding for work on embryonic projects in 2001.” 3 A telephone interview with Mary Jaminet, Special Projects Coordinator for the USCCB Communications Department, informed me that the stem cell campaign was launched in October 2004, and ran nationwide for two weeks, highlighting the issue of stem cell research. The ads appeared in USA Today, The Washington Times and The National Catholic Reporter. The ads have also gone to diocese nationwide for use in local publications. This short-run ad campaign was produced by an agency called Visual Image in Oklahoma. The budget was $130,000, funded by the USCCB for Pro-Life Activities and by the Knights of Columbus. “Stem cell research is one of the most important moral issues of our day, but it is also one of the most distorted,” said Cathy Cleaver Reuse, Esq., Director of Planning and Information for the USCCB’s Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. “In the public debate, embryodestructive research has been greatly hyped, while the proven results of the ethical adult stem cell research are very nearly ignored. Our ads explain that adult stem cell research is already helping people with heart disease, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s and many other diseases. Embryonic stem cells, on the other hand, have not helped one single human patient, and they come with a hefty price tag: the deliberate destruction of human life. As our ads state: science does not have to kill in order to cure.” 4
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options y
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If you are not married, ask the father of your
For information about velop how you can de resources for pregnant and parenting students on campus or in the workplace, Feminists for Life: contactfor basis of financial support for the child and visitation rights the child to voluntarily establish paternity at the
hospital when the baby is born. This will provide the
father. Like you, the father has both rights and responsibilities.
If he will not accept responsibility for his child, get as much information about him and
, security number his family as you can , including his social home address, work and home phone numbers, medical history, his
733 15th St., NW • Suite 1100
parents’ address and mother’s maiden name. This will assist you in
Washington, DC 20005
securing child support and your doctors might need the information
(202) and737-FFLA has for medical purposes: And one day, when the child has grown questions, you will have some answers.
www.serve.com/fem4life
Child support cannot be established unless paternity is established. Consider contacting an attorne y
help in your area look under to protect your child’s rights or call your local Office For of Child Support Enforcement for further information.
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“Abortion Alternatives” or “Pregnancy Services” to examine the rest of your choices.
If you are married, family counseling is available through private and vernment go sources.
choices
The father of your child may try to tell you that he will pay for the abortion, but will not provide child support. The law prevents this. Remember, no one has a right to coerce you into having an abortion — not your boyfriend, not your husband.
In addition to the print ads, the USCCB provided follow-up information with a flyer entitled, “Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning: Questions and Answers” that was distributed in parishes and Catholic organizations across the country.
Figure 2-3: Women Deserve Better Brochure
The success of the ad campaign is not measured by response to the ads directly. The campaign’s purpose is to state the Catholic Church’s position on stem cell research and human cloning. However, International Communications Research conducted a national survey that implies that “when given the choice to fund embryo-destructive research or alternatives such as adult stem cell research, Americans prefer funding adult stem cell research 61% to 23%.” 5
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Abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women. W omen deserve better than abortion.
www.WomenDeserveBetter.com
Women Deserve Better is a service mark of Feminists for Life of America.
Figure 2-4: Women Deserve Better Color Ad
USCCB Women Deserve Better Campaign Problem— Thirty years ago, the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalized unlimited abortion nationwide. The USCCB in partnership with the Knights of Columbus, National Organization of Episcopalians for Life and Feminists for Life, are fighting the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize abortion in the defense of pro-life. “According to statistics provided by abortion advocates themselves, the vast majority of women who ‘choose’ abortion do so precisely because they believed they had no other real choice,” said Cathy Cleaver, Director of Planning
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and Information for the USCCB’s Pro-Life Secretariat. “The reasons women most often cite for their abortions are a lack of financial resources and emotional support. Abortion is not a measure of our society’s success in meeting the needs of women, but of its failure.” 5 Objective— To maintain the Catholic Church as a leading force in the defense of pro-life. To change the way people think with regard to viewing abortion as acceptable. To develop outreach programs that would offer supportive alternatives to abortion. Target Audience— In the U.S., college women and the general public who are high-risk for abortion. Evaluation— The slogan “women deserve better than abortion” was very effective. The print ad, Women Deserve Better, did not have the same impact as the outreach program ad series. The USCCB statistics actually showed an unfavorable response. The print ad served as an introduction to the overall campaign, but lacked the emotional trigger the college outreach program achieved. “Women Deserve Better Than Abortion” ad (Figure 2-4) campaign was launched in January 2003. The campaign ran for the month of January. It appeared in Washington, D.C. subways and buses as well as in print publications and on websites. The design of the ad was produced by Lisa Toscani, a freelance designer from Pennsylvania. One of the partners of the USCCB in the pro-life campaigns, Feminists for Life (FFL), had developed its outreach program in 1996. Planned Parenthood predicted success when they first took note of FFL’s College Outreach Program; they called it the “newest and most challenging concept” and predicted it could have a “profound impact” on college campuses. Serrin M. Foster, the president of FFL, stated: “I wish you could see
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the new confidence of pro-life leaders on campus. At Wellesley and Harvard, Berkeley, Cornell, Gonzaga and the University of Florida, I have witnessed a profound shift in the numbers of activists and in the percentage in the audience who are pro-life. Sally Winn, FFL’s vice president, has seen the same transformation at Dartmouth, University of Michigan, University of Kentucky, Medical College of Ohio, Oberlin College, University of North Carolina and others.� 6 FFL asks the allimportant question: What do women really want? Most women do not want to have an abortion. Most women do not want to leave school. Pregnant and parenting students want, and deserve, other viable choices. Since 1994, the abortion rate among college graduates had decreased by 30%. 7
Figure 2-5: Second Look Color Ad One
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Mary Jaminet, Special Projects Coordinator of the USCCB, was involved from the beginning of the pro-life campaigns. When I inquired as to why the USCCB name was not on this campaign, she stated while in an interview, “A preconceived perception of the messenger will always influence how the message is perceived. Women dealing with abortion decisions will listen to a feminist group before they would listen to the Church, because they might feel that they will not be understood and “may be judged for their sins.” Mary Jaminet explained that the USCCB’s objective is not to judge pregnant women, but to save lives from abortion. The USCCB completely discarded its logo and does not show any endorsement on the campaign. It acts as a silent partner in conjunction with the Knights of Columbus.
Figure 2-6: Second Look Color Ad Two
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Figure 2-7: Second Look Color Postcard
USCCB Second Look Campaign Problem—In 2001, the USCCB stood in opposition to the Supreme Court’s decision for pro-choice in the defense of pro-life. It was the second campaign undertaken by the USCCB for pro-life activities. Objective— To present basic factual information about abortion, to help people form opinions based on fact rather than emotion, and to let the facts speak for themselves.
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Target Audience—All Americans who consider themselves pro-choice who might be willing to take a second look at what they think about abortion. Evaluation— The USCCB is hidden in this campaign. Their name only appears on the website under ‘contact us’. The slogan “Have we gone too far?” works as a direct question to the campaigns objective. The visual design of the ads attract the target audience. The ads in Figure 2-5 and Figure 2-6 show women of different cultural backgrounds. The ad in Figure 25 displays a check list of points that play on the subconscious when abortion is a consideration. These ads and the radio spots can evoke strong emotion, and the entire campaign was effective in raising the question to think twice about prochoice. This campaign established the month of October as “Respect for Life Month.” A flash animation shown on Figure 2-8, was developed and premiered in October 2003. It was on the USCCB site and was available throughout the Catholic Network. The execution of the flash animation utilized and combined abortion facts, emotion, and endorsement of the USCCB. The Second Look campaign launched in September of 2001 ran 500 advertisements on high-speed lines and commuter rails, which served Philadelphia suburbs and southern New Jersey. Radio spots aired on five stations in the Philadelphia area: WDAS, WOGL, SPTP, WXTU and WPLY. The website - www.secondlookproject.org, provided statistics, samples of posters, legal case studies and educational material on fetal development, and downloadable postcards shown on Figure 2-7 .
Figures 2-8: Respect for Life Animation
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RADIO SPOT 1: “Choice Means” :60 Music: Up & under ANNCR: Choice means being able to choose. You can choose an abortion because you don’t want to raise a child alone. Or because you’re worried about the effects it’ll have on your career. Or because you’re just not ready. These are all choices you can make. The Supreme Court says you can also choose to have an abortion at any time during the nine months of pregnancy. That choice includes a procedure that partially delivers the baby. Or when the baby’s old enough to survive outside the womb. Because “choice” means being able to have an abortion at any time, for any reason, today in America, one out of every four pregnancies ends in abortion. We simply ask the question, “Have we gone too far?” Figure 2-10: Radio Spot One RADIO SPOT 2 “Heartbeat” : 60 SFX: Faint heartbeat under and throughout ANNCR: Hear that? It’s the heartbeat of a child in the womb at six months. His heart’s beating at about 140 beats per minute. If he were born now, his chances of survival would be better than 50%. But his mother could choose to have an abortion instead. The law says it’s her choice. Figure 2-9: Project Rachel Print Ad One
Each year, more than 13,000 babies who are already in the 5th month of pregnancy are aborted. And it’s legal. The Supreme Court says you can choose to have an abortion for any reason, at any time, right up through the ninth month. In fact, one in every four pregnancies now ends in abortion. We simply ask the question: SFX: Heartbeat stops. “Have we gone too far?” Figure 2-11: Radio Spot Two Chapter Two
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Figures 2-12: Project Rachel Metro ad
RADIO SPOT 3 “These are the Facts” :60 Music: Up & under ANNCR: These are the facts. You’ve got the legal right to have an abortion because you don’t want to interrupt your career. Or because you don’t want someone else to raise your child. Or because you just can’t afford to have a baby. The Supreme Court gives you the right to have an abortion at any time during the nine months of your pregnancy. Even if it’s by a procedure that partially delivers the baby. Even when the baby’s old enough to survive outside the womb. In America you can choose to have an abortion at any time, for any reason. Because of that, one out of every four pregnancies now ends in abortion. We simply ask the question, “Have we gone too far?” Figures 2-13:Radio Spot Three
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USCCB Project Rachel Campaign Problem— “Since 1973, there have been more than 36 million abortions in the United States. While some women report relatively little trauma following abortion, for many, the experience is devastating, causing severe and long-lasting emotional, psychological and spiritual trauma.” 8
Figure 2-14: Project Rachel Print Ad 2
Objective— Project Rachel was created as a network of professional counselors and priests, all trained to provide one-on-one spiritual and psychological care for those who are suffering because of an abortion. Although most diocese use the name Project Rachel, some programs are named differently. In addition to individualized counseling, some programs include support groups and retreats. Founded in 1984 by Victoria Thorn in Milwaukee, today Project Rachel programs can be found in 140 Catholic diocese in the United States, as well as in diocese in other countries. Target Audience—People who are considering abortion in the Baltimore, Washington metropolitan area.
Figure 2-15: Project Rachel Print Ad 3
Evaluation—Launched in April 2000, this multi-media outreach program succeeded in meeting its objective. The Project Rachel program was produced entirely by the Catholic Church and has been active for over 15 years. This was the first multi-media campaign (Figures 2-9, 2-10, 2-11, 2-12, 2-13, 2-14, 2-15) produced by the
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Catholic Church and was planned one year in advance. The ad agency was Hanon-McKendry based in West Michigan. The budget was $300,000 for development and $300,000 for placement. The campaign ran for three months and was available to diocese around the country for community outreach.
Figure 2-16: Project Rachel Print Ad 4
While interviewing Helen Alvare, USCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, Helen had favorable reports: “The number of women and men calling for help to local Project Rachel ministries since this program began, it has been enormous. We are delighted that so many are becoming aware, through the media, of our offer of help. Approximately 40 percent of those calling the DC office for post-abortion counseling were non-Catholics. Many were referred to Protestant ministers, to a rabbi and to lay counselors, but many nonCatholics were pleased to talk to priests. Every effort was made to offer the kind of help the caller needed and desired. In less than eight weeks, 346 referrals for counseling were arranged by the DC office alone.” I also interviewed Susan Wells, Associate Education Director of USCCB, who was there at the beginning of the Rachel Project. Susan explained that the campaign focuses on women who are in their 30’s who would have had an abortion in their 20’s. The campaign’s approach was to address the needs of women who have already been through an abortion and have done much processing on their own, rather than women currently going through an abortion. Women who had an abortion wrote the entire editorial. Hanon-McKendry had interviewed hundreds of women and highlighted common denominators. Some of the statements that were repeated were; “Something inside me died,” “It’s changed me forever,” and “I let them convince me it was ok.” Susan Wells was also impressed with the response of the campaign. She felt that the radio spots worked better than the Chapter Two
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print material. “Women generally do not talk to anyone about their abortion except their partner, the father of their pregnancy. These conversations add stress to the relationship and are usually short lived. The radio spots identified with the women more closely.” The radio spots used various women’s voices in making personal statements about their feelings on their past abortions. The message of the program was extremely clear in that they were talking to women who were suffering from a past abortion. The subject is a woman who states she had an abortion and is suffering; the individual handwriting on each ad brings a personal touch to the design. The print ad’s slogan was “something inside dies after an abortion.” According to Susan Wells, the response to the print ads was lower than the radio spots. The message was reinforced on the radio spots. When the radio spots aired, the call-in center had an increase of incoming calls by 800%. Seven billboards, five in the Washington, D.C. area, and two in Baltimore City, appeared in February and March 2000. Four 60-second radio ads, two of which are also in Spanish, aired in February and March 2000. These ads played approximately 200 times per week in the Baltimore, D.C., and Northern Virginia areas.
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“Haunted for Life”
“Relief Becomes Loss”
Woman 1: I feel empty inside...
Woman 1: At first it was a relief...
Woman 2: Days would come...
Woman 2: After it was over, I felt things would be better...
Woman 3: They said, “don’t dwell in the past.” Woman 2: ... And days would go... Woman: 1: ... a shell of a person. Woman 2: ... But I would never change. Woman 3: They said, “forget it and get on with your life.” Woman 1: I felt like I didn’t deserve love. Woman 2: I’d look inside... Woman 3: “What are you so sad about?” they’d say. Woman 1: He couldn’t understand. Woman 2: ... I tried to find the person I was... Woman 3: Society doesn’t want you to grieve. Woman 2: ... But that person I was... was gone. Woman 1: It’s like there’s a hole in my soul... Woman 2: I wasn’t there anymore... Woman 1: A hole nothing can fill. Woman 2: ... Not the me that was. Woman 3: Everyone thinks it should all be over by now. But it isn’t. Anncr: Something inside of you dies after an abortion. If you’re suffering because of an abortion, you may feel alone. But you’re not. There are people who understand and can help. Call 1-888-456-HOPE.
Woman 3: It was like this burden... was lifted. Woman 1: And then... Woman 2: Then it happened. Woman 3: I got hit, hard... Woman 1: I had this unbelievable sadness. Woman 2: I just started crying... Woman 3: Like losing a child... Woman 1: I was so alone... Woman 2: I felt stranded... Woman 3: I had nightmares... Woman 1: They tell you it’s a relief. Woman 2: Stranded on this island by myself. Woman 3: Nightmares all the time. Woman 1: It was a relief for awhile... Woman 2: I was OK for a while. Woman 1: But now it’s been years ... years of this. Anncr: Something inside of you dies after an abortion. If you’re suffering because of an abortion, you may feel alone. But you’re not. There are people who understand and can help. Call 1-888-456-HOPE. Figure 2-19: Project Rachel Radio Spot 6
Figure 2-17: Project Rachel Radio Spot 4 Woman 1: I wanted a quick solution... Woman 1: The permanence of it...
Woman 2: I wanted everything to be OK...
Woman 3: It’s not over. Not for me.
Woman 3: I did it to have a future...
Woman 1: ... it’s something only a mother could understand...
Woman 1: But this isn’t a solution.
Woman 2: I don’t know if it’ll ever be over. Woman 1: .. Only I never got to be one. Anncr: Don’t suffer alone. Call 1-888-456-HOPE. A message from Project Rachel. Figure 2-18: Project Rachel Radio Spot 5
Woman 3: And now I don’t feel like I have a future at all. Anncr: Don’t suffer alone. Call 1-888-456-HOPE. A message from Project Rachel. Figure 2-20: Project Rachel Radio Spot 7 Chapter Two
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“Everyone said...”
“Struggle”
Woman 1: Everyone said it was OK...
Woman 1: I just surrendered...
Woman 2: I had a life...
Woman 2: I didn’t want to hurt anyone.
Woman 1: Everything around me said it was OK.
Woman 3: My boyfriend, he didn’t understand...
Woman 3: They said it was a choice...
Woman 1: It was this incredible struggle.
Woman 2: I had a career...
Woman 2: I didn’t want to hurt my parents.
Woman 3: ... but I didn’t really feel like I had one.
Woman 3: He said, “It’s your decision.”
Woman 1: I was looking outside for answers....
Woman 1: And my baby and I lost...
Woman 2: I didn’t want to mess it all up.
Woman 2: I thought my parents would kill me.
Woman 3: I went on remote control.
Woman 3: “Your decision.” His code for “do it!”
Woman 1: ... I can see that now.
Woman 1: I was too tired to fight.
Woman 2: I didn’t want things to change...
Woman 2: I didn’t want to hurt anybody...
Woman 3: It wasn’t the real “me” that went that day.
Woman 3: “What are you gonna do?” he’d say. Not him....
Woman 2: ... But they changed in ways I never wanted.
Woman 2: ... But I ended up really hurting myself...
Woman 1: It’s like I got a “yes” from everyone else.
Woman 3: “Come on!” he goes, “Yes, or no?”
Woman 3: I just went numb.
Woman 2: Everyone ended up getting hurt.
Woman 1: Later I looked, I mean inside.
Woman 3: “Let’s go,” he says, “Yes, or no, yes or no?”
Woman 2: I can’t seem to change it back now.
Woman 1 : I just wanted to disappear...
Woman 3: They said it was “simple.” It’s not.
Anncr: Something inside of you dies after an abortion. If you’re suffering because of an abortion, you may feel alone. But you’re not. There are people who understand and can help. Call 1-888-456-HOPE.
Woman 1: I never really got a “yes” from me... Woman 2: The life I had... is gone. Woman 3: Sometimes I wish I could just stay numb. Anncr: Something inside of you dies after an abortion. If you’re suffering because of an abortion, you may feel alone. But you’re not. There are people who understand and can help. Call 1-888-456-HOPE. Figure 2-21: Project Rachel Radio Spot 8
Figure 2-23: Project Rachel Radio Spot 10 Woman 1: You make a choice... Woman 3: What they didn’t tell me... Woman 1: And you live with it... Woman 3: ... was that the “yes” was so... forever.
Woman 3: They said it was easy... Woman 2: Why do I still feel this way? Woman 1: Why am I still hurting?
Woman 1: ... Or you die with it a little everyday. Anncr: Don’t suffer alone. Call 1-888-456-HOPE. A message from Project Rachel.
Woman 3: Not one single day’s easy for me. Anncr: Don’t suffer alone. Call 1-888-456-HOPE. A message from Project Rachel. Figure 2-22: Project Rachel Radio Spot 9
Figure 2-24: Project Rachel Radio Spot 11
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The three styles of ads alternated on buses and subways. The ads were placed in a total of 860 sites in the Baltimore metropolitan areas. Bumper stickers reading “Something inside dies after an abortion,” are available in English & Spanish and Project Rachel’s website address appears on them. Figure 2-25: It All Starts with Faith 1
A pamphlet entitled, “How to Talk to a Friend Who Has Had an Abortion” is available in English & Spanish. It is intended for use in churches and other appropriate public places. A poster that is downloaded from the website that can be used as a newspaper ad is available for local use. This website, www.hopeafterabortion.com, appears on all printed marketing promotion materials.
Figure 2-26: It All Starts with Faith 2
USCCB It All Starts With Faith TV Spots
Figure 2-27: It All Starts with Faith 3
Problem— For American Catholics, there are no typical advertising techniques that package the Catholic belief system as a reminder. There is no motto, mantra or slogan for the Catholic Church. It would be inappropriate for a religion to sound like a commercial movement, yet the Church needs to remind Catholics of important Christian-based values and behaviors. Objective— To televise nationwide the key points in areas that the Catholic Church has taken a leading role focusing on education, charity, humanitarianism, health care, migration and refugee services. To highlight noteworthy actions of Catholics in order to inspire others.
Figure 2-28: It All Starts with Faith 4 Chapter Two
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OVERVIEW OF SUBJECTS: Education
Figure 2-29: It All Starts with Faith 5
The Catholic Church runs the largest network of private schools in the United States. Over 2.6 million students are enrolled in its 7,142 elementary schools and 1,376 high schools. 3,195 Catholic schools ‚- or almost 40% ‚- had waiting lists for admission for the 2002-2003 academic year. 13.4% of students at Catholic schools in 2003, or 341,819, are non-Catholic. Minority enrollment in Catholic schools for 2002-2003 was 663,682, or 26% of total enrollment. 99% of Catholic secondary school students graduate, and 97% go on to postsecondary education. 9 Catholic Charities, USA
Figure 2-30: It All Starts with Faith 6
Figure 2-31: It All Starts with Faith 7
The Catholic Charities network is the nation’s fourth largest non-profit, according to The NonProfit Times. The combined revenue of the Catholic Charities network from all sources, public and private, was $2.69 billion in 2000. Nearly 90% of these funds were spent on programs and services, making the Catholic Charities network one of the country’s most efficient charities. Today the Catholic Charities network, more than 1,400 local agencies and institutions nationwide, provide help, sometimes with additional government funding, and create hope for more than seven million people a year, regardless of religious, social, or economic backgrounds. This network is empowered by the dedication of more than 51,000 staff and 175,000 volunteers. 10 Humanitarian Aid
Figure 2-32: It All Starts with Faith 8
Founded in 1943 by the U.S. Bishops, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official overseas relief and development agency of the U.S. Catholic community. CRS provides direct aid to the poor and involves people in their own development, helping them to realize their potential. CRS reached 62 million people in 91 countries and territories in 2002, bringing relief in the wake of disasters and offering hope and the opportunity to achieve self-sufficiency to the poorest of the poor. 11 Chapter Two
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Health Care
Figure 2-33: It All Starts with Faith 9
Catholic health and social service organizations have a long tradition of service in the United States. Today, the Catholic nonprofit health-care system serves diverse populations in every state in the United States. 565 Catholic hospitals account for 11% of community hospitals in the United States, and 16% of all U.S. hospital admissions. Annual Catholic hospital expenses for 2001 were $59.1 billion, 15% of total community hospital expenses.12 Migration and Refugee Services
Figure 2-34 Clouds 1
Figure 2-35: Clouds 2
Figure 2-36: Clouds 3
Over the past 25 years, the Catholic Church in the United States‚ through the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services (MRS)‚ has resettled 883,740 refugees, or 32% of the total number of refugees admitted to the United States. The 2001 MRS budget was $48.2 million, the majority of which was comprised of government grants. MRS carries out the commitment of the bishops to serve and advocate for immigrants, refugees, migrants, and people on the move.13 Target Audience— The American public, clergy and parishes. In 2002, approximately one million adults and infants were welcomed into American parishes, and 44 new parishes were created. The Catholic community is represented by a diverse collection of ethnicities, including people from AfricanAmerican, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, and Native American backgrounds. Evaluation— There were seven public awareness spots that ran for 60 seconds each. These public awareness ads are informative and inspirational. They spotlight Catholics who are nominated by the diocese around the U.S. There are 30 such people that the USCCB intends to spotlight and will be creating new commercial spots for the future. The TV spots display how faith motivates the individual, filmed documentary-style in their own words. Chapter Two
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These spots have been distributed to over 1000 broadcast and cable television stations across the country to air at their discretion. During an interview with Pat Garcia, CCC Director of Distribution, she told me she had not received the airtime she was hoping for and explained that there was not enough in the budget to actually pay for the airtime. The budget comes from collections in May from the diocese around the country. The producers of the spots were freelancers – a two-man crew which conducted a preinterview test run before filming the final. The spots are basic in design (Figures 2-25 through 2-32). They are public awareness spots to promote the values of the Catholic Church and, they establish recognition within the Church network, clergy, and parishioners. THE “ALL STARTS WITH FAITH‚”CAMPAIGN PROFILES: A Snohomish, Washington woman helping and visiting the elderly; A Jesuit priest who helped develop a unique work-study program to bring quality education to Chicago inner-city teens; A religious sister in Baltimore who provides a home for neglected and abused teenage girls; A Houston couple who provide food, clothing and shelter to the needy in their community; A doctor and a registered nurse who are also religious sisters and operate a clinic in an immigrant community outside El Paso, Texas; Two young women from Overland Park, Kansas and Woodbridge, Virginia, who are teaching in underprivileged Catholic schools in Ft. Worth and Dallas, Texas, as part of a nationwide teacher recruitment program.
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TV ACCESS REPORT AS OF FEBRUARY 15, 2005: “It All Starts with Faith” I Stations Receiving and Reporting 59 Stations Reported Airing. Broadcasts - 3,333 Broadcasts Reported. 56 Average number of broadcasts per station. Broadcast Audience Impressions - 107,029,000 Total of all station’s number of play times their audience sign-on/sign-off average. Equivalent Dollar Value - $453,228.00 Based on National Association of Broadcasters formula. “It all starts with Faith” II Stations Receiving and Reporting 42 Stations Reported Airing. Broadcasts - 4,625 Broadcasts Reported, 110 Average number of broadcasts per station. Broadcast Audience Impressions - 25,329,000 Total of all station’s number of play times their audience sign-on/signoff average. Equivalent Dollar Value - $629,000.00 Based on National Association of Broadcasters formula. 14 There was another campaign called “Clouds,” Figures 2-34 through 2-36. Pat Garcia mentioned that this was distributed to ABC Network and posted to the USCCB media website. It has a small, simple message that is quite effective. It was not widely used on the broadcast network. Clouds was also sent throughout the diocese around the U.S. to use at their discretion. The ratings are good, but not as successful as the USCCB’s Poverty campaign shown in Chapter Four.
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Rings | Clothing
Figure 2-37: Pure Love Club Website Home Page
Catholic Answers Pure Love Club Program
Figures 2-38: Pure Love Club Products 1
Problem—Evangelists are known for their assertiveness in spreading the Christian belief with conviction and passion. They appear to be uninhibited in tackling any subject. So, why not sex? Cultural change, diversity and tolerance are encouraging people to become more open and casual about sex. Teenagers, hormonally driven, are exploring their sexuality. In today’s world, advertising and the entertainment industry use sex as a selling tool. As a result, teens have
Figures 2-39 Pure Love Club Products 2 Chapter Two
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become sexually active at a younger age. Most are not mentally or emotionally ready for it. Regardless of age, evangelists and the Catholic Church believe that sex is a privilege for married couples for procreation only.
Figure2-40: Pure Love Club Products 3
Objective— To challenge young people to embrace the virtue of chastity. To influence young people to engage in relationships and manage sexual pressures successfully. Question and answers are on topics covering: birth control, dating, homosexuality, how far is too far, how to stay pure, pornography, starting over, STD’s, and vocations. 2/26/05 11:34 AM Target Audience—Teenagers in Catholic, Christian and public junior and senior high schools as well as universities.
Figure 2-41: Pure Love Club 4 Rings | Clothing
ut your
save the glorify at the Lord
Evaluation— In an interview with Jason Padilla, Director of the Pure Love Club, he stated that he and his wife Crystalina, speak internationally to over 100,000 teens each year. They are frequent guests on radio programs throughout the country. Their television appearances include “The Donahue Show,” WGNPage 1 of 3 news, the BBC, and “Life on the Rock” and “The Abundant Life” on TV EWTN. Jason’s video “Teen Relationships and Sexual Pressure” was given the Silver Crown Award for best youth video of 2002 by International Christian Visual Media. The National Abstinence Clearinghouse, in recognition of Mr & Mrs. Padilla’s success, gave the 2003 Impact Award for work with teens in America.15 “Out of the nine topics covered during a lecture, there was no difference as to what areas were discussed more.” Jason said, “The kids are very straight-forward and ask very direct questions. There is a rare occurrence of poor conduct while I am speaking with them.” Jason Padilla stated that they do not use any form of advertising, with the exception of their website. The website www.pureloveclub.com had an e-commerce section that sells items like t-shirts, jewelry and commitment cards. The
Figure 2-42: Pure Love Club 5 Pure Love Club 2020 Gillespie Way El Cajon, CA 92020 619-387-7200
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commitment cards are for young people to sign (similar to a contract), declaring their promise to wait to have sex until marriage to the chosen partner. (Figures 2-17 through 2-30) According to Jason Padilla, “The program is promoted through word of mouth within the school systems, both public and private. They visited over 100,000 high schools and colleges around the country.” Sales figures from the e-commerce site, was unavailable. This program appears to be very popular in school districts in highly concentrated Christian areas. General inquiries with Catholic parents and teachers from the New York City and Boston areas, indicated that inner city schools may not be as familiar with the Pure Love Club. No direct links were found to the pureloveclub.com from any archdiocese websites. The popularity of this campaign is implied by media coverage, however success is unclear at this time. When asked about the success of the program, Jason stated it would be difficult to answer. He was unaware if there had been a decline in teenage sexual activity, and was unclear as to how that could be answered, but research showed that there has been a steady decline in teenage pregnancy, birth and abortion among American teenagers in 2000. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute in New York, their U.S. teenage pregnancy statistics show a decline in the year 2000: Nationwide, the teenage pregnancy rate declined by 2% between 1999 and 2000 ( from 85.7 to 83.6 pregnancies per 1000 women aged 15-19). From1986 to 2000, the rate dropped by 22% and, more importantly, fell by 28% since peaking in 1990. Teenage abortion rates in 2000 were 24.0 per 1000 women aged 15-19—some 3% lower than the 1999 rate of 24.7 per 1000. From 1986 to 2000, the abortion rate dropped by 43%; during the same period, the proportion of teenage pregnancies ending in abortion fell from 46% to 33%—a decline of more than one-quarter (27%).16
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Knights of Columbus Prayer for Peace Advertisement
September
Problem—Life as we know it can change in a second. The world was reminded of that on September 11, 2001. The United States was in chaos and many suffered a personal loss and reached out globally to communicate with people from their past to make sure they were alive and well. Anger and suspicion mixed with courage and faith were common emotions in U.S. citizens following 9/11. Since then during the completion of this paper in 2007, the U.S. has been at war and at a constant state of alert.
th
A day we all can pray for peace.
www.kofc.org
A me s sage from the Knights of Columbus.
Figures 2-42 © Knights of Columbus
Objective—To utilize the remembrance of September 11th, and to encourage all Americans to want peace, safety and the well being of all humanity.
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Target Audience— Americans Evaluation— The Knights of Columbus showed their leadership, and compassion in attempting to establish a day of resolution and prayer on the anniversary of September 11th. There was a 30 second TV spot that aired nationally during prime time and major sports events on ABC, CBS, NBC and ESPN in December, 2001. I was referred to Patrick Korten, Vice President of Communications of the Knights of Columbus, by Mary Jaminet at the USCCB. Mary suggested this campaign would be of interest, and it was. Mr Korten granted me permission to obtain a copy of the ad, Figure 2-42, for this thesis. (All rights, including name and logo, are reserved), and reserved all marketing questions to the agency that created it. The ad design was done by Hanon-McKendry, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bill McKendry, co-founder and chief creative officer of Hanon-McKendry, said, “the twofold goal of the Knights’ communications campaign was to assert the relevancy of the organization as an outlet for Catholic men and their families interested in volunteering, and to promote volunteerism in general.” The Prayer for Peace ad was developed in 2004. It ran in the September 2004 issue of TIME magazine and September 10 and 11 issues of The Washington Post. There was no plan to continue to repeat this ad on September 11th in later years. There was no information available on responses to this campaign.
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ENDNOTES 1 “USCCB Annual Report,” United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. January 2003. Internet; accessed February 2005. http://www.usccb.org/cchd/annualreports.shtml 2 Internet; accessed February 2006. http;//www. archives.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/07/11/stem.cell.fact/ 3 Marimow, Ann E. and Wagner, John. “Stem Cell Funding Bill Clears Two Panels and Heads to House Floor” Washington Post, February 25, 2006; Page B04. Internet; accessed February 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/02/24/ AR2006022401933.html 4 “Stem Cell Press Release,” Office of Communications, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. October 2004. Internet; accessed June 2005. http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2004/04-198.htm 5 “Knights of Columbus Back Launch of Women Deserve Better Ad Campaign Press Release” Office of Communications, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Dec. 2002. Internet; accessed June 2004. http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/wdbknights.htm 6 “Whats Wrong With This Picture,” College Outreach Program, Feminists for Life. 2004. Internet; accessed February 2005. http://www.womendeservebetter.com/cop/brochure.htm 7 Ibid 8 “Bishops’ Official Notes Coverage of Post Abortion Program” Office of Communications, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. April. 2000. Internet; accessed February 2005. http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2000/00-084.htm 9 “It All Starts with Faith” Office of Communications, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. April. 2000. Internet; accessed February 2005. http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2000/00084.htm 10 Ibid 11 Ibid
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12 Ibid 13 Ibid 14 Internet; accessed February 2005. http://www.tvaccessreports.com/ccc/report_view.asp?id=N83_CCC_ TV_REPORT_FAITH2 15 “About Us,” Pure Love Club, Catholic Answers. 2004. Internet; accessed February 2005. http://www.pureloveclub.com/purelove/index.php?id=46 16 “U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics,” Overall Trends, Trends by Race and Ethnicity and State-by-State Information, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, NY. Feb. 2004. Internet; accessed July 2005. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/covers/state_pregnancy_trends.html
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Research shows that the Roman Catholic Church continues to take an active roll in politics, both in the United States and globally. The USCCB and some members of the Catholic network are politically active and use varying forms of marketing to meet their objectives. Some argue that politics and religion should always remain separate and neither power should have control over the other. History tells us that politics and religion have had a long interconnection. Like most relationships, these two subjects experience constant change and actually feed each other.
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Briefly, recognize the origin of Christianity - Jesus. In considering the cultural conditions that Jesus lived in, his spiritual achievements were surrounded by political upheaval and persecution. One could say that His spiritual life was the result of little boundary between religion and politics. It’s ironic that Jesus’ spiritual teachings evolved into a religion, that at this time, is the only religion to have an active vote in global politics. The world of Jesus made no distinction between politics and religion. The Romans not only obeyed the emperor, they worshiped him as God’s son, Divi filius. Jews not only worshiped God, but believed that he ruled them and that one day his Kingdom would be the only power on earth and in heaven. That belief was wound into Israel's sense of itself as a nation and a people.1
No one can argue that Jesus was born into the Jewish religion. He was known as a Galilean Jew. In Aramaic, the native language in this region, His name was Eashoa’.2 Most additional information on Jesus has been incalculable in the sense of historic truth. Scholars and theologians have debated for centuries over Jesus’s life propose. Was He a Rabbi who was extremely well versed in multiple languages and a defender of human rights? Was He a philosopher and a powerful healer? Was He sent by God to redeem humanity? Was He from another planet, more advanced than earth? Was He a maverick? Did he exist at all?
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Jesus remains a mystery to many and faith goes on. I myself believe He did exist, and that He was certainly the origin of the Christian spirit. The initial spreading of Christianity on the other hand, can be credited to Jesus’ twelve apostles and St. Paul, also known as Saul. Last, but not least, the Emperor Constantine was the catalyst for the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church transitioned from spirit to religion and church. It began with mystery and continues to unravel in historical fact. The Catholic Church is seeded in the world of politics. Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Christian Roman Emperor. His reign was a turning point for the Christian Church. In 313 Constantine announced toleration of Christianity in the Edict of Milan, which removed penalties for professing Christianity (under which many had been martyred in previous persecutions of Christians). Though a similar edict had been issued in 311 by Galerius, then senior emperor of the Tetrarchy, Constantine's lengthy rule, conversion, and patronage of the Church redefined the status of Christianity in the empire. Throughout his rule, Constantine supported the Church financially, built various basilicas, granted privileges (e.g. exemption from certain taxes) to clergy, promoted Christians to high ranking offices, and returned property confiscated during the Great Persecution of Diocletian. His most famous building projects include the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Old Saint Peter's Basilica. The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the Christian Emperor in the Church; Constantine considered himself responsible to God for the spiritual health of his subjects, and thus he had a duty to maintain orthodoxy. For Constantine, the emperor did not decide doctrine - that was the responsibility of the bishops - rather his role was to enforce doctrine, root out heresy, and uphold ecclesiastical unity.
Figure 3-1: Constantine Before the Battle at Milvian Bridge
The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the dual goals of liberating the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslims and freeing the Eastern Christians from Muslim rule. What started as an appeal by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos for western mercenaries to fight the Turks in Anatolia quickly turned into a wholesale Western migration and conquest of territory outside of Europe. Both knights and peasants from many nations of Western Europe, travelled over land and by sea towards Jerusalem and captured the city in July 1099, establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem and other Crusader states. Although these gains lasted for less than two hundred years, the First Crusade was a major turning point in the expansion of Western power, as well as the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire.3
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Today, the relationship between American politics and the American Catholic Church continues to embrace the art of debate and to challenge moral responsibilities. While the Declaration of Independence promises Americans the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,—” various religious groups have had varying and different ideas about what American rights entail. Our history shows many religious and politically explosive arguments on the differences in our views about such topics as abortion, death penalty, euthanasia, sexuality and gay marriage.
Figure 3-2: USCCB Political Brochure
Following are several case studies showing the overlap and/or relationship between Catholic organizations and political campaigns. The first is the USCCB and Catholic Answers communication campaigns during the 2004 presidential election. The next case study reveals networking between the San Francisco, California Archdiocese joint venture campaign for pro-life with Feminists for Life of America. Another study considers Catholics for Free Choice (CFFC), and an interview with Frances Kissling, President of CFFC is included. The last case study is an opposing campaign directed at the USCCB and the Vatican. Additional information on the relationship between the United Nations and the Vatican and a review of the legal case of Roe verses Wade is included as part of this analysis.
USCCB Catholic Call to Political Responsibility Problem— During the late summer and fall of 2004, Americans witnessed presidential debates that left citizens feeling uncertain about their alliance with political parties. The 2004 presidential election took place during a crucial time when the US was at war in the Middle East. In addition,
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Figure 3-3: USCCB Political Brochure
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there were moral issues, such as stem cell research, abortion and gay marriage, under heavy debate and remaining unresolved by Church standards. In the 20th century, approximately half of the American population would cast votes at every election. The percentages below are the Presidential Election Voters Turnout from 19242000. 4 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000
48.9% 51.8% 52.6% 56.8% 58.8% 56.1% 51.1% 61.6% 59.4% 62.8% 61.9% 60.9% 55.2% 53.5% 52.6% 53.1% 50.1% 55.2% 49.0% 51.0%
Figure 3-4: Washington, D.C. Archdiocese Home Page
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According to Belden Russonelo & Stewart, a research company, hired by Catholics for Free Choice, their survey found that demographically, American Catholics are considered to be more of a cultural voting group than a religious one. In 2004, Catholics were making their political choices based on a candidate’s position on the war in Iraq, terrorism and family security issues, such as jobs and health care. 5 “As a group, they mirror the nation’s generally pro-choice position on abortion and support for stem cell research and the death penalty. They have not taking their political cues from the Catholic Bishops. Catholics represent a quarter of the national vote and for the last three decades their overall preference has changed several times between the Democratic and Republican candidate for president. But as Catholic voters have swung, so has the nation. Candidates, who win the popular vote, win the Catholic vote. They have been identified as an extremely important group to watch carefully.” 6
Objective—encourage American Catholics: 1) To vote. 2) To vote for a political leader whose principals align with the Church’s views. Target Audience— American Catholics who were undecided on presidential candidates. Evaluation—In an attempt to encourage Catholics to become politically engaged, the USCCB created a brochure that was distributed throughout all archdiocese around the country. The content of the brochure prompted key questions for the reader to direct at the presidential candidates. It encouraged congregations to think strongly about whom they were voting for and raised the parishioners’ awareness on important Church issues. The list of questions below is extracted from the brochure. The emphasis is on pro-life issues, promoting
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traditional family life, practicing global solidarity – overcoming hunger and global poverty, and attaining global peace. The approach is effective by keeping the editorial simple and easy to understand. This simple approach allowed the target audience to digest complex material easily. 1) After 9/11/01 how can we build not only a safer world, but also a better world—more just, more secure, more peaceful, more respectful of human life and dignity? 2) How will we protect the weakest in our midst—innocent unborn children? How can our nation not turn to violence to solve some of its most difficult problems— abortion to deal with difficult pregnancies, the death penalty to combat crime, euthanasia and assisted suicide to deal with the burdens of age, illness and disability, and war to address international disputes? 3) How will we address the tragic fact more than 30,000 children die every day as a result of hunger, international debt, and lack of development around the world? 4) How can our nation help parent raise their children with respect to life, sound moral values, a sense of hope, and an ethic of stewardship and responsibility? How can our society defend the central institution of marriage and better support families in their moral responsibilities? 5) How will we address the growing number of people without affordable and accessible health care? How can health care better protect human life and respect human dignity? 6) How will our society combat continuing prejudice, overcome hostility toward immigrants and refugees, and heal the wounds of racism, religious bigotry and discrimination? 7) How will our nation pursue the values of justice and peace in a world where in justice is common, desperate poverty widespread, and peace too often overwhelmed by violence? 8) What are the responsibilities and limitations of families, community organizations, markets, and government? How can these elements of society work together to overcome poverty, pursue the common good, and care for creation? 9) When should our nation use, or avoid the use of, military force—for what purpose, under what authority, and at what human cost? 10) How can we join with other nations to lead the world to great respect for human life and dignity, religious freedom and democracy, economic justice, and care for God’s creation?
The brochure, Figure 3-3, was published online as a portable document format (pdf ) on the Washington, D.C. archdiocese website as a banner (used for web ad placements) ad. Upon clicking the banner, a pdf of the brochure downloaded automatically (Figure 3-4). Chapter Three Political Campaigns
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Figure 3-5: Insert of Audio Script of Voters Guide for Serious Catholics
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Figure 3-6: Insert of Audio Script of Voters Guide for Serious Catholics
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The questions in the brochure are elementary and idealistic. This brochure was intended to address a wide audience, yet it could have missed much of the intended target audience. The USCCB outlined ten questions that on average had a twenty-five word description, plus extra information on the role of the Church, moral priorities, and explained the Church’s interpretation of defining a “new kind of politics—focused on moral principals.” 7 There was insufficient information on the actual effects of this campaign from the USCCB. However, President Bush was re-elected in 2004, and his profile views aligned closely with the Catholic Church’s views that were included in this campaign.
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avor of them. gislation or of candidates Catholics
Figure Catholic Answers This3-7: booklet gives clearVoter’ and s Guide concise official Church statements on five "nonnegotiable" moral issues. After reading it, there will be no doubt or confusion about what the Church teaches and requires of her children. Also available in Spanish and for non-Catholic Christians.
Voter's Guide - Print It Here is an easy-to-print version of the Voter's Guide. Click here.
Voter's Guide News
Problem — Catholic Answers’ agenda was the same as the USCCB’s in getting American Catholics take part in the presidential election and vote, and to vote with the Church views in mind. Catholic Answers is a sector of the Catholic network that has a strong presence around controversy concerning the Catholic Church; members of this organization are known to be very aggressive in defense of the position of the Catholic Church. Objective—To be direct and clear. To educate and persuade the public to vote for a candidate who will uphold the moral teachings of the Church. (Catholic Answers developed “Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” campaign.) Target Audience— American Catholics and Christians who felt politically homeless, in addition to Catholics and Christians who may have cast a vote based on party affiliation versus moral character in the past.
Catholic Answers Attacked Newspaper Campaign
Voter's Guide Q&A Some of the most common questions regarding the Voter's Page 1 of 4
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THIS IS A PAID ADVERTISEMENT
Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics This voter’s guide helps you cast your vote in an informed manner consistent with Catholic moral teaching. It helps you eliminate from consideration candidates who endorse policies that cannot be reconciled with moral norms that used to be held by all Christians. On most issues that come before voters or legislators, a Catholic can take one side or the other and not act contrary to his faith. Most matters do not have a “Catholic position.” But some issues are so key, so elemental, that only one position accords with the teaching of the Christian gospel. No one endorsing the wrong side of these subjects can be said to act in accord with the Church’s moral norms. This voter’s guide identifies five “non-negotiable” issues and helps you narrow down the list of acceptable candidates, whether they are running for national, state, or local offices. Candidates who endorse or promote any of the five non-negotiables should be considered to have disqualified themselves from holding public office, and you should not vote for them. You should make your choice from among the remaining candidates. YOUR ROLE AS A CATHOLIC VOTER Catholics have a moral obligation to promote the common good through the exercise of their voting privileges (cf. CCC 2240). It is not just civil authorities who have responsibility for a country. “Service of the common good require[s] citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community” (CCC 2239). This means citizens should participate in the political process at the ballot box. But voting cannot be arbitrary. “A well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law that contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals” (CPL 4). Some things always are wrong, and no one may vote in favor of them, directly or indirectly. Citizens vote in favor of these evils if they vote in favor of candidates who propose to advance them. Thus, Catholics should not vote for anyone who intends to push programs or laws that are intrinsically evil. THE FIVE NON-NEGOTIABLE ISSUES These five issues are called non-negotiable because they concern actions that are always morally wrong and must never be promoted by the law. It is a serious sin to endorse or promote any of these actions, and no candidate who really wants to advance the common good will support any of the five non-negotiables. 1. Abortion The Church teaches that, regarding a law permitting abortions, it is “never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it” (EV 73). Abortion is the intentional and direct killing of an innocent human being, and therefore it is a form of homicide. The child is always an innocent party, and no law may permit the taking of his life. Even when a child is conceived through rape or incest, the fault is not the child’s, who should not suffer death for others’ sins.
2. Euthanasia Often disguised by the name “mercy killing,” euthanasia also is a form of homicide. No one has a right to take his own life (suicide), and no one has the right to take the life of any innocent person. In euthanasia, the ill or elderly are killed out of a misplaced sense of compassion, but true compassion cannot include doing something intrinsically evil to another person (cf. EV 73). 3. Embryonic Stem Cell Research Human embryos are human beings. “Respect for the dignity of the human being excludes all experimental manipulation or exploitation of the human embryo” (CRF 4b). Recent scientific advances show that any medical cure that might arise from experimentation on embryonic stem cells can be developed by using adult stem cells instead. Adult stem cells can be obtained without doing harm to the adults from whom they come. Thus there is no medical argument in favor of using embryonic stem cells. 4. Human Cloning “Attempts . . . for obtaining a human being without any connection with sexuality through ‘twin fission,’ cloning, or parthenogenesis are to be considered contrary to the moral law, since they are in opposition to the dignity both of human procreation and of the conjugal union” (RHL I:6). Human cloning also ends up being a form of homicide because the “rejected” or “unsuccessful” clones are destroyed, yet each clone is a human being. 5. Homosexual “Marriage” True marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Legal recognition of any other form of “marriage” undermines true marriage, and legal recognition of homosexual unions actually does homosexual persons a disfavor by encouraging them to persist in what is an objectively immoral arrangement. “When legislation in favor of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral” (UHP 10). WHICH POLITICAL OFFICES SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT? Laws are passed by the legislature, enforced by the executive branch, and interpreted by the judiciary. This means you should scrutinize any candidate for the legislature, anyone running for an executive office, and anyone nominated for the bench. This is true not only at the national level but also at the state and local levels. True, the lesser the office, the less likely the office holder will take up certain issues. Your city council, for example, perhaps never will take up the issue of human cloning. But it is important that you evaluate every candidate, no matter what office is being sought. Few people achieve high office without first holding low office. Some people become congressional repre-
sentatives, senators, or presidents without having been elected to a lesser office. But most representatives, senators, and presidents started their political careers at the local level. The same is true for state lawmakers. Most of them began on city councils and school boards and worked their way up the political ladder. Tomorrow’s candidates for higher offices will come mainly from today’s candidates for lower offices. It is therefore prudent to apply the same standards to local candidates as to state and national ones. If candidates who are wrong on non-negotiable issues fail to be elected to lower offices, they might not become candidates for higher offices. This would make it easier to elect good candidates for the more influential offices at the state and national levels. HOW TO DETERMINE A CANDIDATE’S POSITION The higher the office, the easier this will be. Congressional representatives and senators, for example, repeatedly have seen these issues come before them and so have taken positions on them. Often the same can be said at the state level. In either case, learning a candidate’s position can be as easy as reading newspaper or magazine articles, looking up his views on the Internet, or studying one of the many printed candidate surveys that are distributed at election time. It often is more difficult to learn the views of candidates for local offices because few of them have an opportunity to consider legislation on such things as abortion, cloning, and the sanctity of marriage. But these candidates, being local, often can be contacted directly or have local campaign offices that will explain their positions. If you cannot determine a candidate’s views by other means, do not hesitate to write directly to him and ask how he stands on each of the non-negotiables. HOW NOT TO VOTE Do not base your vote on your political party affiliation, your earlier voting habits, or your family’s voting tradition. Years ago, these may have been trustworthy ways to determine whom to vote for, but today they are not reliable. You need to look at each candidate as an individual. This means that you may end up casting votes for candidates from more than one party. Do not cast your vote based on candidates’ appearance, personality, or “media savvy.” Some attractive, engaging, and “sound-bite-capable” candidates endorse intrinsic evils and so should be opposed, while other candidates, who may be plain-looking, uninspiring, and ill at ease in front of cameras, endorse legislation in accord with basic Christian principles. Do not vote for candidates simply because they declare themselves to be Catholic. Unfortunately, many selfdescribed Catholic candidates reject basic Catholic moral teaching. They are “Catholic” only when seeking votes from Catholics. Do not choose among candidates based on “What’s in it for me?” Make your decision based on which candidates seem most likely to promote the common good, even if you will not
benefit directly or immediately from the legislation they propose. Do not reward with your vote candidates who are right on lesser issues but who are wrong on key moral issues. One candidate may have a record of voting exactly as you wish, aside from voting also in favor of, say, euthanasia. Such a candidate should not get your vote. Candidates need to learn that being wrong on even one of the non-negotiable issues is enough to exclude them from consideration. HOW TO VOTE For each office, first determine how each candidate stands on each of the five non-negotiable issues. Eliminate from consideration candidates who are wrong on any of the non-negotiable issues. No matter how right they may be on other issues, they should be considered disqualified if they are wrong on even one of the non-negotiables. Choose from among the remaining candidates, based on your assessment of each candidate’s views on other, lesser issues. WHEN THERE IS NO “ACCEPTABLE” CANDIDATE In some political races, each candidate takes a wrong position on one or more of the five non-negotiables. In such a case you may vote for the candidate who takes the fewest such positions or who seems least likely to be able to advance immoral legislation, or you may choose to vote for no one. THE ROLE OF YOUR CONSCIENCE Conscience is like an alarm. It warns you when you are about to do something wrong. It does not itself determine what is right or wrong. For your conscience to work properly, it must be properly informed—that is, you must inform yourself about what is right and what is wrong. Only then will your conscience be a trusted guide. Unfortunately, today many Catholics have not formed their consciences adequately regarding key moral issues. The result is that their consciences do not “sound off ” at appropriate times, including on election day. A well-formed conscience never will contradict Catholic moral teaching. For that reason, if you are unsure where your conscience is leading you when at the ballot box, place your trust in the unwavering moral teachings of the Church. (The Catechism of the Catholic Church is an excellent source of authentic moral teaching.) [Nothing in this voter’s guide should be construed as an endorsement of any particular candidate or political party.] ABBREVIATIONS CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church CPL Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Notes on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life CRF Pontifical Council for the Family, Charter of the Rights of the Family EV
John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)
RHL Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation UHP Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Considerations regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons
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Evaluation—Catholic Answers ran a full-page ad, Figure 3-8, in USA Today on August 31, 2004. The campaign was also created as a flash animation and video spots (Figure 3-8 through 3-10) that aired on the web. The Voter’s Guide was also published as a print manual (Figure 3-7). All communication mediums were in both English and Spanish, they appeared in various Catholic network print material that was distributed nationwide. Some archdiocese websites advertised the banner ad that is shown in Figure 36. Direct mail was not obtainable, but research has found that Catholic Answers typically produces many direct mails on other issues that may not have had as much priority as the presidential election. Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics campaign outlined five major points: 1. Abortion 2. Euthanasia 3. Embryonic Stem Cell Research 4. Human Cloning 5. Homosexual Marriage
Copyright © 2004 Catholic Answers
You Can Help Distribute This Guide! To purchase this guide in bulk or to donate to our ad project, call 1-888-291-8000 or go to www.catholic.com. All gifts are tax-deductible. Catholic Answers 2020 Gillespie Way, El Cajon, CA 92020
Figure 3-8: Catholic Answers Voter’s Guide Newspaper Ad
The style is very direct and blunt. “How to vote,” “How not to vote,” “When there is not Acceptable Candidate,” “The role of your Conscience.” These are the leading directives. One of the more noticeable statements is, “Your
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Role as a Catholic Voter...thus, Catholics should not vote for anyone who intends to push programs or laws that are intrinsically evil.” The campaign became very controversial after it appeared in USA Today. It was attacked, criticized as having used “selective interpretation of Catholic doctrine” for political agenda. The Church was also criticized by some Catholics for not doing enough to reelect President Bush and by others for not doing enough to tout Senator Kerry’s candidacy. “Then there were those who said in one breath that the Church should have no role in politics, but in the next breath, how could you not support their candidate?” 8 Figures 3-9: Catholic Answers Voter’s Guide Video 1
Figures 3-10: Catholic Answers Voter’s Guide Video 2
Figures 3-11: Catholic Answers Voter’s Guide Video 3
Catholic Answers had attracted both positive and negative responses towards the campaign that reflected back on the Church. The Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics was direct, but their intentions were accused by many in the media of being skillfully masked. An analysis of this ad shows that it clearly opposes freedom of choice - for women, those dying of disease, gay society and science research. Social justice issues such as welfare spending, universal health care and concerns on the war in Iraq were absent in this ad campaign, unlike the USCCB campaign Catholic Call to Political Responsibility. When the Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics campaign ran nationally, the Church was met with accusations of abusing its authority as a leading voice in the U.S. The Church was accused of having a primary objective of securing votes in terms of the Church, not in terms of being a leading entity in America and of considering what is best for all Americans. On December 2, 1992, USA Today newspaper reported an IRS audit on a Virginia-based Christian political coalition. This further raised questions as to whether the Church, by sponsoring political ads and asking for tax deductible donations to defray costs, violated its tax-exempt status.9 There was no information available from Catholic Answers as to the success of this campaign.
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San Francisco, CA First Annual Walk for Life West Coast “Walk for Life West Coast” pro-life campaign, was developed by the San Francisco Archdiocese. What is interesting about this campaign, is that it clearly evolved from the moral campaign, “Women Deserve Better Than Abortion,” and developed into a political campaign/feminist movement. Problem— The Church views abortion as violence to women and to their children, both physically and emotionally. It views abortion as harmful to both women and men; it divides families and society.
Figure 3-12: Walk for Life WC Logo
Women Deserve Better than Abortion ®
First Annual
Walk for Life West Coast January 22, 2005 11:00 am San Francisco Justin Herman Plaza on Market Street along the waterfront Speakers: Sally Winn, Vice President of Feminists for Life Georgette Forney, President of Silent No More Awareness Pastor Clenard Childress, Regional Director of LEARN
Objective— To counteract abortion. The archdiocese of San Francisco set out to establish a new West Coast tradition of celebrating and protecting life. They wanted to change the perception that abortion is an acceptable answer. Walk for Life West Coast was created to educate on all pro-life issues. Target Audience— In the U.S., West Coast Catholics and all women. Evaluation— Walk for Life WC was developed by “Feminists for Life of America.” The entire presentation stood out visually. A black woman smiling is the face repeated on material. The logo is professional and friendly; the editorial content is welcoming and positive, well written with intelligence and compassion. More importantly, it relates to all women on
w w w. w a l k f o r l i f e w c . c o m (415) 586-1576 WOMEN DESERVE BETTER is a registered trademark and campaign of Feminists for Life of America.
Figure 3-13: Walk for Life Color Print Ad 1
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the issue of abortion. The editorial continues to use the same concept of women’s voices used in the Women Deserve Better campaign (shown in Chapter Two. page 25), but with a lighter approach. Women Deserve Better campaign included the legal case Roe vs. Wade, and focused on the emotional impact of abortion. This campaign’s concept encouraged embracing life, friendship and family, shown in Figure 3-13. Walk for Life WC received media coverage on Fox News, LA Times, and ABC News. The website had videos of the walk, copies of its press releases, a blog, and audio clips on pro-life aired on Free Speech Radio.
Figure 3-14: Walk for Life Color Print Ad 2
The website had an e-commerce section selling promotional material: various styles of t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts and infant t-shirts were available. Mugs, posters (Figure 3-15), bumper stickers, buttons, calendar and tote bags were also sold on the website. The office was unavailable for response on the campaign’s success. The Feminist for Life campaign had very good endorsement not only with a credible feminists group that partnered with the San Francisco Archdiocese. It makes a powerful and effective statement showing (Figures 3-14 & 3-15) endorsement by various community leaders. Research has shown a clear pattern in that the Church through its archdiocese often “partners” or networks with affiliate like-minded political groups. This is a more effective way for the Church to continue communicating messages in a subliminal way, that is basically, by having its partner do the “talking”
Figure 3-15: Walk for Life Website Page Chapter Three Political Campaigns
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Did I deserve the death penalty? My “crime” was being conceived through rape. So the next time you hear people talking about “exceptions” to abortion for rape and incest, think of me. My name is Rebecca.
I am that exception. SM
Question Abortion.
LIE TO ME. DON’T
IS THIS THE FACE OF THE ENEMY? Abortion advocates pit women against our children. But lack of emotional or financial support is the real enemy. Feminists for Life believes that women should not feel forced to sacrifice our children for an education or a career. If you would like to work on securing non-violent choices for women or need information on pregnancy resources, please contact us.
Refuse to Choose® • Women Deserve Better®
feministsforlife.org © 2003. Feminists for Life of America. All rights reserved.
feministsforlife.org © 2003. Feminists for Life of America. All rights reserved.
Figure 3-17: Feminists for Life Ad 2
for it. Figures 3-16 & 3-17, are samples of an ad campaign that Feminist for Life launched. Just as in the Rachel project shown in Chapter Two, it is not discernable that an archdiocese was the source or a partner in these campaigns. There was no evidence of the Church sponsoring the Feminists for Life campaigns, however their messaging is identical to church campaigns, and there are visual indicators of association with the Catholic Church. For example, the Feminists for Life logo not only represents a person, but a cross as well. The slogan “Women Deserve
Figure 3-16: Feminists for Life Ad 1 Chapter Three Political Campaigns
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Better” is a registered trade mark, as shown in Figure 3-16. This mark also appeared in the USCCB’s campaign.
The Catholic Church’s Relationship with the United Nations The Holy See (Latin: Sancta Sedes, "holy seat") is the episcopal see of Rome. The incumbent of the see is the Bishop of Rome — the Pope. The term Holy See, as used in Canon Law (Canon Law, the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation.), also refers to the Pope and the Roman Curia — in effect, the central government of the Roman Catholic Church — and is the sense more widely used today. 10
Figure 3-18: Flag/icon of the Vatican
The Holy See is a non-member state permanent observer at the United Nations (UN). This status comes with some of the privileges of a state at the UN, such as being able to speak and vote at UN conferences. No other religion was granted this elevated status. Other religions participate in the UN like most other non-state entities — as non-governmental organizations. The Holy See owes its participation in the UN to the memberships of international unions. Vatican City is a member in the Universal Postal Union and the International Telecommunication Union. The Vatican owns its own postal and radio services. The UN invited these organizations and their members to attend UN sessions on an ad hoc basis, which the Vatican did. 11 Research has revealed that the Catholic Church has met with global opposition because of its position on rejecting certain universal health care practices, particularly free condom distribution. The Church views unprotected sex in marriage or outside of marriage as not an option. The Church views sex as the means for procreation only. Sexual abstinence Chapter Three Political Campaigns
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is the Church’s answer to many problems. This view will be explored further in Chapter Six, Problems for the Catholic Church.
The United Nations Views on Abortion and Birth Control. The United Nations (UN) does not promote abortion as a method of family planning. The legal status of abortion is the sovereign right of each nation. The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) is the United Nations main organization for population and reproductive health issues. Most of its assistance to countries is provided in the area of reproductive health services, including family planning and information. The Program of Action was the product of more than three years of intense deliberation and negotiation between governments, nongovernmental organizations, community leaders, technical experts and interested individuals. The Program of Action goes beyond mere numbers and demographic targets and places human beings and their well-being at the centre of all population and sustainable development activities. It also sets out quantitative and qualitative goals and objectives to be reached by all countries by the year 2015: to provide universal access to reproductive health and family planning services; to reduce infant, child and maternal mortality; and to provide access to primary education for all girls and boys. 12 As shown in Chapter One, the world's population has more than doubled in the past 50 years. It is expected to increase by a further 50% in the next 25 years. • If the world's current 5.8 billion inhabitants joined hands, they would stretch more than 160 times round the world. • 600,000 women die every year from the consequences of pregnancy or childbirth.
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• The risks in childbirth are 50 to 100 times higher in the developing countries than in the developed countries. • In 1996, six people every minute were affected with the AIDS virus. • In Africa, 17% of births are among women aged below 20, as compared with 8% in Europe.13 Grazzia Gonzalez, age 15, lives with her family in Chucicamata, a mining town in the Atacama desert in Chile. "The biggest problem is the lack of opportunity to talk about sex. With your girlfriend, you don't dare say too much for fear of looking too silly. As for the boys, they're so macho that nobody would ever think of confiding in them. Luckily, there are organizations that hold meetings. Last week I went to a meeting with a midwife. She really made us laugh when she started by telling us that the best contraception method was abstinence. Then, she added, taking some condoms out of her bag, 'This can help as well.' We were all a bit embarrassed, but I must say it was the first time I had ever seen a condom." 14 UNPF assists information campaigns among adolescents to warn them against the risks of early or unprotected sex. The following facts on maternal health and abortion were obtained from the UN Department of Public Information. • Some 99 % of the estimated 585,000 maternal deaths worldwide annually occur in poorer countries. Of these deaths, 13 % are a result of complications from unsafe abortions. • More women resort to abortion where family planning services and sex education are poor. • Restrictive abortion laws do not prevent abortion but force women to seek illegal and usually unsafe abortions. In Latin America, where abortion is almost completely illegal, the rate is between 30 to 60 per 1,000. In the Netherlands, with Europe's most liberal abortion law, only five out of 1,000 women opt for abortion. The average of Western Europe is 14 abortions per 1,000 women. • Of the estimated 45 million abortions worldwide annually, only 25 million are legal. At least 70,000 women die each year as a consequence of unsafe abortion, and millions more suffer severe health problems.
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• Unsafe abortions account for some 25 - 50% of maternal deaths in refugee situations.15 In an effort to fight these meaningless deaths, UNPF, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Federation of the Red Cross in 1996 looked at the reproductive health needs of refugees from Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire in the Great Lakes regions of Central Africa. As a result, about 220,000 displaced women of child-bearing age received a package continuing information about reproductive health care services together with other emergency supplies. The package addressed women’s needs in family planning, including contraception, assisted childbirth, complications connected with unsafe abortions, sexual violence (including rape), and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. 16 This information is necessary in understanding not only the opposing Catholic voice, but further discussion will also be included in Chapter Six, on this controversial topic.
The Opposition During the early 1970’s, a strong opposing voice within the Catholic culture emerged called, “Catholics for Free Choice” (CFFC). This organization has been selected for case study because of its tenacious approach in communication design with direct relation to the Catholic Church. It has utilized advertising aggressively, and has publicly challenged view points around modern society and Catholicism. CFFC is
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not an accredited branch of the Church, nor is it accepted as part of the Catholic network discussed so far.
Catholic for Free Choice (CFFC) CFFC began with three New York women, Joan Harriman, Patricia Fogarty McQuillan, and Meta Mulcahy, who had been colleagues in the National Organization for Women. They chartered CFFC in 1973, the year of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe decision. The case of Roe vs. Wade was the crucial point in which the battle of pro-life against prochoice began.
Roe Et Al v. Wade: Argued December 13, 1971, Reargued October 11, 1972, Decided January 22, 1973. A pregnant single woman (Roe) brought a class action challenging the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which proscribe procuring or attempting an abortion except on medical advice for the purpose of saving the mother’s life. A licensed physician (Hallford), who had two state abortion prosecutions pending against him, was permitted to intervene. A childless married couple (the Does), the wife not being pregnant, separately attacked the laws, basing alleged injury on the future possibilities of contraceptive failure, pregnancy, unpreparedness for parenthood, and impairment of the wife’s health. A threejudge District Court, which consolidated the actions, held that Roe and Hallford, and members of their classes, had standing to sue and presented justifiable controversies. Ruling that declaratory, though not injunctive, relief was warranted, the court declared the abortion statutes void, as vague and over broadly infringing those plaintiffs’ Ninth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The court ruled the Does’ complaint not justifiable. Appellants directly appealed to this Court on the injunctive rulings, and appellee cross-appealed from the District Court’s grant of declaratory relief to Roe and Hallford.17 Who decides when life begins? Should a woman have a personal right to make a decision that impacts her life at the
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cost of her potential child? These are the difficult key questions that were presented during the Roe vs. Wade trial. This is also when the American bishops emerged as the principal opposition to legalize abortion in the wake of Roe vs. Wade. Simultaneously, Catholics for Free Choice was born in defense of pro choice.
Catholics are pro-choice. Catholics believe in legal abortion, contraception, sexuality education, international family planning assistance and the separation of church and state. N Less than one-fourth (23%) of U.S. Catholics agree with the bishops’ position that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. – CBS/NEW YORK TIMES POLL, JULY 2000
N Only 20% of Catholics believe that church leaders should have the final say regarding the morality of a Catholic advocating free choice regarding abortion. – NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER POLL, OCT. 1999
N 53% of Catholics believe that you can
N Less than 3% of sexually active Catholic women use church-approved family planning methods. –1995 NATIONAL SURVEY OF FAMILY GROWTH, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
N 57% of Catholics say that contraceptives should be available to teens even if their parents don’t approve. – 1998 GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEY, NATIONAL OPINION RESEARCH CENTER
N Only 9% of U.S. Catholics feel so
be a good Catholic without obeying the church hierarchy’s teaching on abortion.
strongly about abortion that they would not vote for a political candidate who disagreed with their opinion.
– NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER POLL, OCT. 1999
– CBS NEWS/NEW YORK TIMES POLL,
N Only 13% of the nation’s 47,200 Catholic priests belong to Priests for Life. – MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION FROM PRIESTS FOR LIFE
N 96% of all Catholic women who have ever had sex have used modern contraceptive methods at some point in their lives. –1995 NATIONAL SURVEY OF FAMILY GROWTH,
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
New York, NY Catholics for Pro Choice Catholic People Care and Condoms4Life. “Everyone comes here (the UN) with the moral values, ideas they believe in. The Lesbians and the communists come with moral values, as do those organizations that come with a belief in the [traditional] family. Everyone has a right to be here.” —Leader of conservative “family values” NGO 18
MAY/JUNE 1996
N 77% of Catholics say that it is not appropriate for religious leaders to urge people to vote for a candidate because of his or her stand on abortion. – CBS NEWS/NEW YORK TIMES POLL, MAY/JUNE 1996
N 79% of Catholics support U.S. aid programs for international family planning. – BELDEN RUSSONELLO & STEWART POLL, DEC. 1998
Catholics for a Free Choice For further information contact: Catholics for a Free Choice, 1436 U Street, NW, Suite 301 Washington, DC 20009 (202) 986-6093 email: cffc@catholicsforchoice.org www.catholicsforchoice.org
Problem—In the United States, a powerful and well-funded Religious Right exists that pressurizes ideas that align with the Catholic Church. In addition, the Catholic Church and its network uses intimidation tactics against Catholic legislators who are pro choice.
Figure 3-19: Catholics for Free Choice Ad 1
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Some bishops have stated publically that they (the Church) expects American Catholic politicians to adhere to the church’s views, which in their opinion, as stated in the Senator Kerry article (shown in Figure 3-20), is a “higher standard.” Therefore, if a politician does not align with the Church’s views and conducts himself or herself as an independent thinker, addressing problems for all Americans and not just Catholics, they are considered by the Church to be taboo and not up to par. On a global level, the Vatican and bishops’ conferences lobby actively against international family planning assistance and legalized abortion.
Figure 3-20: Senator John Kerry NY TImes Article
The CFFC’s founders felt that the bishops did not represent the Catholic people on reproductive rights issues, including abortion. They knew that Catholic women had abortions and that Catholic women and men supported legal access to abortion. generate Objective— To awareness of pro choice Catholic views on family planning and abortion rights. To point out that
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bishops’ positions are not representative of the majority of the American Catholic culture. Target Audience— The U.S., and global awareness.
Figure 3-21: Catholics for Free Choice Ad 2
Evaluation—The ad campaigns were produced for print ads and billboards. The ads were accessible through the campaigns website, www.condoms4life.org. Information packets on the bishops’ ban on condoms were sent to every U.S. senator and representative serving on committees dealing with HIV/AIDS. In addition, there was a sign-on letter delivered to Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, head of USCCB, with signatures from Catholic women’s groups and Catholic organizations working for democratic change in the Church. The website had an action alert link, enabling the public to send individual letters and use the e-mail network to lobby the bishops to end their ban on condoms. Frances Kissling, President of CFFC, conducted an interview that was available online. The following is an excerpt from her interview on discussions covering the CFFC ad campaigns:
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believe believe believe believe
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in God. that sex is sacred. in caring for each other. in using condoms. PUBLIC MEDIA CENTER
We We We We
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Good Catholics Use Condoms www.condoms4life.org | C AT H O L I C S
Figure 3-22: Catholics for Free Choice Ad 3
FOR A
FREE CHOICE
Figure 3-23: Catholics for Free Choice Ad 4
Q: Only two years after you became executive director, CFFC and others placed the renowned full page advertisement in The New York Times asserting that “a Diversity of Opinions Regarding Abortion Exists Among Committed Catholics.� The Vatican disciplined many of the signers of the ad, and the controversy generated enormous media attention for, literally, years. How did that furor influence the nature of the organization and its mission? Kissling: The ad (Figure 3-19) had enormous impact. When CFFC was founded in 1973, the goal had been for the American people, particularly political leaders, to understand that the bishops did not speak for Catholics and that Catholics could and did support the right to choose. With the ad, that task was definitively accomplished; everything before it had built up to it. After the ad, to some extent, the domestic agenda went into a stabilization phase. Of course we had to continue to educate, to maintain what we had attained, and Chapter Three Political Campaigns
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to hone our message, and improve our strategies. In part because of the ad, the years since then have seen an increase in the credibility of CFFC. We play an active role in the pro-choice community, and the media frequently solicit our input. Q: In 1992, CFFC placed another full-page ad in The New York Times, among other publications, stating, “Nobody wants to have an abortion.” Talk about the concept underlying that campaign. Kissling: The ad was really a culmination, the embodiment of a concept we’d been advancing for some time. It recognizes that at the root of unintended pregnancies are myriad issues that beg our attention. It asks people to envision the kind of world we want to live in. We all want to raise children in a world that will be safe and secure in every sense. That brings together the environment, education, health care, and other issues.
Figure 3-24: Catholics for Free Choice Ad 5
Kissling: The papacy of John Paul II has helped to drive our move into international work. The Vatican has played a growing role in global politics on reproductive issues, and we thought the work we had done here might be useful to Catholics in other countries. In 1986, we began working with women in Latin America. We translated several CFFC publications and made them available there. Former CFFC board member Sylvia Marcos began speaking publicly to articulate the pro-choice Catholic position. In 1987, after the International Women and Health Meeting, CFFC held a two-day post-conference symposium for Latin American Catholic women. Cristina Grela attended, and she became CFFC’s representative in Latin America. Until December 1997, she led our efforts there, through Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir.
Figure 3-25: Catholics for Free Choice Ad 6
Beyond Latin America, crises over reproductive rights in Catholic countries have increased and escalated. Groups and individuals in Ireland and Poland, especially, continually seek our advice. Our goal has always been to shape the debate in a way that is sensitive to Catholic culture and to the history of each country.
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Catholic people care.
Catholic People Care.
Do our bishops? Because the bishops ban condoms, innocent people die. Join the Global Campaign to End the Bishops’ Ban on Condoms Catholics for a Free Choice • www.condoms4life.org W O R L D A I D S D AY 2 0 0 1
Figure 3-26: Catholics for Free Choice Ad 7
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At each stage of our history, CFFC’s contribution has exceeded its size and its resources. In the first years, there was no money, yet the organization attracted notice and accomplished goals. Although we’re still a lean organization, the budget and staff grew steadily through much of the 1980s. Through 1987, our annual budget was less than half a million. Now we have eighteen staff members and a budget of approximately $2 million.19 During the 2002 International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, an international delegation from Africa, Latin America, Europe and the United States called for an end to the Catholic bishops ban on condoms. The CFFC was present at the conference, demonstrating their Condoms4Life campaign. The bishops’ message of prohibiting condom use and distribution in the world’s 100,000 Catholic hospitals was termed “immoral,” and was delivered in multiple languages.20 Elfriede Harth, the organization’s European representative, added “the Church’s ban is important to both Catholics and nonCatholics because religiously controlled institutions, such as Catholic hospitals and social service organizations that serve a wide variety of populations, often receive public funds to operate HIV/AIDS services.” She encouraged public policy makers “to take a critical look at how the church’s policy affects their ability to play a responsible role in AIDS prevention efforts.” 21 This ad campaign appeared for six months around the world in countries with a Chapter Three Political Campaigns
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significant Catholic population or AIDS crisis, such as Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the United States and Canada.
Figure 3-27: CFFC Award One
CFFC has been awarded the “Best in America by Independent Charities of America” for demonstrating the highest standards of public accountability and cost effectiveness. Fewer than 2,000 of the 1,000,000 charities operating in the U.S. have been awarded this seal shown in Figure 327. They also earned four out of four star rating from Charity Navigator, an American independent charity evaluator(Shown in Figure 3-28). While these awards pertain to the business management of the organization, research indicates that the campaign, Condom4Life, has been successful in expansive communication on a global level. Chapter Five of this study will further discuss this campaign’s impact on the Catholic Church.
Figure 3-28: CFFC Award Two
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ENDNOTES 1 Chilton, Bruce. Rabbi Jesus. An Intimate Biography. Doubleday Publishing, a division of Random House Inc., New York, NY 2000. 2 Ibid 3 Internet; accessed November 10, 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I 4 “Committee for the Study of the American Electorate,” Fair Vote. Voting and Democracy Research Center. 2004 Internet; accessed June 23, 2005. http://www.fairvote.org/turnout 5 “The view from Mainstream America: The Catholic Voter 2004,” Belden Russonello & Stewart Research and Communications. New York, NY. July, 2004. 6 Ibid 7 “The Challenge of Faithful Citizenship,” A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Publication No. 5-562. 2004. 8 “Listening Didn’t Happen in Election Campaigns,” Newsletter, Office for Public Affairs, Archdiocese of Philadelphia. March 2005. Internet; accessed June 23, 2005. http://www.archdiocesephi.org/opaweb/newsletter/listening.htm 9 Meddis, Sam and McLean, Vincent. Church's Political Ads Reviewed Final Edition. USA Today.com Archives, Va December 2, 1992. pg. 02A Internet; accessed February 26, 2005. Http://www.pqash.pqarchiver.com/USA Today/56242901.html 10 Petrosillio, Orazio. Vatican City. Translated by Eugene Rizzo and Lisa Dastell. Ufficio Vendita Pubblicazioni e Ripreoduzioni, Musei Vatcani. Vatican City 2002. 11 Ibid 12 “What is the United Nations Stand on the Issues of Abortion,” Fact Sheet # 6, Public Inquiries Unit, Department of Public Information, United Nations. New York, NY October 2000. Chapter Three Political Campaigns
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13 Ibid 14 Ibid 15 Ibid 16 Ibid 17 Supreme Court of the United States Jane Roe et al., v. Henry Wade et al., Appellants Legal Brief of State of Connecticut, Amicus Curiae, in Support of Petitions for Rehearings Filed by the States of Georgia and Texas. U.S. Government 410 U.S. 113, 93 S.Ct. 705. 2005 18 Religion and Public Policy at the UN. Religion Counts Publication a collaboration of The Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith, and Ethics and Catholics for a Free Choice. Washington, D.C. 2002. 19 “An interview with CFFC President Frances Kissling”. Catholics for Free Choice. Washington, D.C. 2004. Internet; accessed June 23, 2005. http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/lowbandwidth/aboutus.htm 20 “Catholics Take a Campaign to Overturn Vatican’s Opposition to Condoms to AIDS Conference” HIVAN. 10 July 2002. University of KwazuluNatal. Internet; accessed August 2, 2005. http://www.hivan.org.za/arttemp.asp?id=1592 21 Ibid
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An attraction to a certain religion is usually connected to how one feels around that religion’s core message. Early Christians believed in brotherly love and a version of the golden rule: “do unto others as you would have done to you.� While it has been obviously difficult for the Catholic Church to practice these idealistic teachings at times, today there are communication campaigns that still hold true to the Church original objectives.
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Returning to its core principles, an important goal of the American Catholic Church is humanitarian aid. In order for the Church to continue with its humanitarian missions, it must raise funds. The first two case studies are on American Catholic Charities and Catholic Extensions. These two branches of nonprofit have very specific goals and depend on donations to accomplish these goals. Interestingly, they maintain their own identity and both are effective, particularly in knowing their audiences. I have found these two organizations to have very different approaches in their communications. The third case study concerns the Washington, DC Christmas campaign. Its message is very simple, reminding people to come to Church during the holiday season. Its first appearance was in 2004/2005, and was produced and donated by a law firm called the Institute for Justice. The forth case study; concerns the Chicago archdiocese, which produced a self-promotion in the form of a booklet. This was used as an internal communications tool, promoting evangelism. The final case study is the USCCB national fundraising campaign on poverty awareness.
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Catholic Charities Catholic Charities was established in 1727 when the French Ursuline Sisters opened an orphanage in New Orleans. Originally, Catholic charitable ministries focused mainly on the care of children. Catholic institutions were established in major cities along the East Coast, providing homes and education for children whose parents were lost to disease and other catastrophes common in early America. With the rise of immigration in the mid-1800’s, the demand for Catholic charities increased dramatically. By the early twentieth century, the Catholic Charities network had formed to provide social work and health care, and to serve as an advocate for the poor. The National Service Center works with a conglomerate of more than 1,600 community-based agencies and institutions across America. Together, Catholic Charities agencies serve more than 7 million people annually. 1 Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) is an organization that teaches Catholic beliefs by example. It is a membership association in one of the nation’s largest social service networks. It has agencies and institutions nationwide that operate independently of the main sector, similar to the archdiocese church structure. CCUSA goals are to aid individuals, families and communities. Their quest is to eliminate poverty – a condition that affects so many aspects of living in America. Most noteworthy is the fact that 90 cents of every dollar Catholic Charities collects goes toward helping others; they show compassion regardless of race or religion. 2 As part of the research for this thesis, I signed up for membership on the Catholic Charities website. The membership provided a choice of network opportunities in the national advocacy and media efforts, program development, training and technical assistance, and financial
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support. I joined the Development & Communications network and was able to monitor real time activity. Email exchanges within the Syracuse Advertising Design program were quiet in comparison. For example, a CCUSA director in West Peoria, Illinois sent out a question to the network: “Have you had any experience with a Canadianbased business called Help On Board? They have approached one of our branch offices and I’ve been asked to provide input. Appears they create monopoly-like board games with properties and pieces that have a very local community flavor…” Within seconds, she had a long list of responses offering information and suggestions. Another noteworthy email exchange concerned discussions on the dying of Pope John Paul II. Hundreds of email exchanges were observed within the CCUSA network in response to the following e-mail: Dear Dev/Comm Section Members: With the Pope’s health deteriorating, Catholic Charities USA is preparing an in memorial page for its two websites to go up in the event of his passing. It will include Fr. Larry’s statement, quotes from the pontiff on charity and justice, and text of his speech before Catholic Charities USA’s 1987 annual conference. Shelly Borysiewicz
I was aware of Pope John Paul’s decline before my grandmother, who, at that time, watched the news continuously. Within six hours of receiving this email, Pope John Paul had passed. The websites were updated simultaneously with newscast announcements. The dedication, teamwork communication and expediency within the Catholic Charities network are most impressive.
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Shelly Borysiewicz is the manager of Media Relations for Catholic Charities USA. I contacted her to discuss two areas of interest: 1) Their magazine - “Charities USA” 2) Their ad campaign “Providing Help. Creating Hope.”
Charities USA (Catholic Charities Magazine) Take a moment from your busy holiday preparations to think of those who have no food, no home and no hope. Please open your heart and give generously today at holiday.catholiccharitiesinfo.org to help people in need have a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, joyful Kwanzaa and more hopeful New Year. PROVIDING HELP. CREATING HOPE.
CALL 800-919-9338
Housing Assistance • Adoption • Elderly Care • Youth Services • Counseling • Family Support • Adult Day Care • Child Care • Parenting Education Emergency Financial Assistance • Soup Kitchens • HIV/AIDS Care • Help for At-Risk Children • Emergency Shelter • Out-of Home Care • Food Pantries
Figure 4-1: Catholic Charities Ad 1
The magazine “Charities USA” is a 44 page self-cover publication that has a classic design style. The paper stock is a smooth matt finish. It prints one, sometimes two color on the inside pages, with four (full) color on the outside front and back cover. The editorial content is informative. It is extremely well written, demonstrating intelligence and compassion for all cultures and faiths. There are approximately three thousand copies printed quarterly. Distribution is through the membership.
SHE DOESN'T WANT A TOY THIS CHRISTMAS.
She wants a hot dinner and a clean bed. A safe place for her family to live. And maybe a pair of shoes that fit. Your holiday gift to Catholic Charities can make her Christmas better and her future brighter. Please give generously today.
Shelly felt that the magazine was an excellent marketing tool, but wanted this publication to have greater distribution. The current budget at the time of this interview, will not allow for an increase in print quantity. I asked her if there were plans for further development on the web, such as blogs, for example. Shelly explained the their budget was already exhausted and new developments would be difficult at this time. The magazine is generated in-house with the exception of the out-source of design and photography.
PROVIDING HELP. CREATING HOPE.
www.catholiccharitiesinfo.org 1-800-919-9338 Housing Assistance • Adoption • Elderly Care • Youth Services • Counseling • Family Support • Adult Day Care • Child Care • Parenting Education Emergency Financial Assistance • Soup Kitchens • HIV/AIDS Care • Help for At-Risk Children • Emergency Shelter • Out-of Home Care • Food Pantries Rated one of America's most efficient charities by Smart Money
Figure 4- 2: Catholic Charities Ad 2
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Providing Help. Creating Hope. Ad Campaign Problem— Americans have decreased their charitable donations to the Church. Catholic Charities USA tracked the decline. It began in 2001 because of economic decline, concern about effects of the war with Iraq, bad press due to priest pedophiles, and lack of awareness of charitable need. In 2003, CCUSA commissioned a survey of Catholics to examine current public awareness, past donations and volunteer work, as well as some of the potential incentives and barriers to charitable giving. The method used was three national omnibus surveys. Charts are shown in Figures 4-3, 4-4 and 4-5. The survey questioned 3,044 American adults age 18 and older by telephone. The results showed the impact of economy on charitable donations.
DONATION INCENTIVES & BARRIERS BY REGION
Figure 4- 3: Catholic Charities Survey
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CURRENT VOLUNTEERING & INTENTIONS BY REGION
Figure 4- 4: Catholic Charities Survey
CURRENT VOLUNTEERING & INTENTIONS BY BEHAVIOR
Figure 4- 5: Catholic Charities Survey
According to Catholic Charities, this survey conducted in April, 2003, indicates that economic uncertainty caused many Catholics to keep tighter hold of their money, with 74% indicating they would donate more if they felt more secure about their personal finances. The poll also found that 57% of Catholics polled said the amount of money they donated to charity during the past year has stayed the same, while 20% reported their donations had decreased, and 23% cited an increase in their charitable giving.3
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THE SECRET TO A HAPPY HOLIDAY. THE LIFE WE CHANGE COULD BE YOURS. It’s not what you get; it’s what you give. And when you donate to Catholic Charities, your gift gives more. It can make a poor child smile with glee. Give a lonely person a hot meal and a hug. Help a jobless parent find new skills. Open your heart and give today. Make their holiday happy, and yours.
If you really want to make things better in your community, volunteer with Catholic Charities. There are so many things you can do, from feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless, to helping children at risk or spending time with the elderly and lonely. And while you are changing others’ lives, you may see a change occurring inside yourself. A change of heart. A change in priorities. Call 1-800-000-0000 and let the transformation begin.
PROVIDING HELP. CREATING HOPE.
www.catholiccharitiesinfo.org 1-800-919-9338
PROVIDING HELP. CREATING HOPE.
Housing Assistance • Adoption • Elderly Care • Youth Services • Counseling • Family Support • Adult Day Care • Child Care • Parenting Education Emergency Financial Assistance • Soup Kitchens • HIV/AIDS Care • Help for At-Risk Children • Emergency Shelter • Out-of Home Care • Food Pantries Rated one of America's most efficient charities by Smart Money
Figure 4- 6: Catholic Charities Ad 3
Housing Assistance • Adoption • Elderly Care • Youth Services • Counseling • Family Support • Adult Day Care • Child Care • Parenting Education Emergency Financial Assistance • Soup Kitchens • HIV/AIDS Care • Help for At-Risk Children • Emergency Shelter • Out-of Home Care • Food Pantries Rated one of America's most efficient charities by Smart Money
Figure 4- 7: Catholic Charities Ad 4
“These are very challenging times for Catholic Charities and the millions of people who are served by our agencies,” said Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, president of Catholic Charities USA. “While more and more people are turning to Catholic Charities, the government contracts, donations, and other vital sources of revenue needed to provide those services are declining or not keeping pace. Our nation is at a unique juncture where our homeland security and the personal economic security of many Americans are both at risk and both competing for limited resources,” said Father Hehir. “As our nation’s focus moves from the war to efforts to rebuild Iraq, we must not lose sight of the battles that many families are fighting each day to rebuild their lives. Every day Catholic Charities agencies serve thousands of families who, despite enormous effort, do not earn enough to provide for their basic needs.” 4 Father Hehir noted that a number of factors have impacted the finances of Catholic Charities agencies. These include a federal budget deficit and the need to pay for the war with Iraq, a weakened economy, dire
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IF YOU THINK PINCHING PENNIES IS HARD, TRY LIVING WITHOUT A CENT.
DIOS PROVEE. PERO USTED ES LA VÍA DE ENTREGA.
Hay un niño en su comunidad que seguramente no ha comido nada caliente en varios días. Una anciana no tiene una vivienda a su alcance. Un padre sin trabajo está tan desesperado que se pregunta ¿dónde está Dios? Por favor, ayúdelos. Done hoy mismo a Catholic Charities. Visítenos en línea en Catholic www.catholiccharitiesinfo.org.
in the
Financially and emotionally, we are all living in difficult times. But as bad as things might be for you, there are many in your community who have no money for groceries and no place to live. Please share what you have with those who have nothing. Give to Catholic Charities today. Visit us online at www.catholiccharitiesinfo.org.
OFRECIENDO AYUDA. GENERANDO ESPERANZA.
CALL 800-919-9338
LLAME AL 800-919-9338
Asistencia de vivienda • Adopción • Cuidado de ancianos • Servicios para jóvenes • Asesoramiento • Soporte familiar • Cuidado diurno de adultos • Cuidado de niños Asistencia económica de emergencia • Educación para padres • Comedores para los necesitados • Cuidado de pacientes con VIH/SIDA • Ayuda para niños en riesgo Albergue de emergencia • Cuidado fuera del hogar • Bancos de alimentos
Figure 4- 8: Catholic Charities Ad 5
PROVIDING HELP. CREATING HOPE.
Figure 4- 9: Catholic Charities Ad 6
Housing Assistance • Adoption • Elderly Care • Youth Services • Counseling • Family Support • Adult Day Care • Child Care • Parenting Education Emergency Financial Assistance • Soup Kitchens • HIV/AIDS Care • Help for At-Risk Children • Emergency Shelter • Out-of Home Care • Food Pantries
budget situations in many states, and the lingering effects on giving from reports of sexual abuse by priests. The survey also showed that slightly more than one in five Catholics (22 %) said they reduced their donations to faith-based charities in the past year because of the reports of misconduct by priests.4 This will be discussed further in Chapter Five, Problems of the Catholic Church. The survey also revealed that nearly two in three Catholics (65 %) said they would give more if they knew there was a growing need for services among people in their own communities. “Greater demands are being placed on Catholic Charities with tight revenues and an increasing requests for service,” said Father. Hehir. “Catholic Charities must continue to make sure that government policymakers and donors understand the strain being placed on Catholic Charities and the people they serve.” 5
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Objective— To create awareness about the Catholic Charities, its values, and the wide variety of services provided by local agencies to millions of people each year. To appeal to the country’s 60 million Catholics and create a stronger Catholic Charities following and support. To create a tag line that communicates a “hand up not a hand out.” To identify Catholic Charities as the social service arm of the Church. Target Audience— U.S. citizens Evaluation— The tag line CCUSA decided on was “Providing Help. Providing Hope.” This slogan is direct and effective in summarizing what the CCUSA is about. There were two ad series created: one concept is on poverty in general and the other on poverty around the holiday season. Both ads are the same in design and layout. All ads have powerful headlines, for example Figure 7-78, “Poverty never takes a holiday.” The images are realistic, portraying everyday faces. Each ad has one paragraph providing the viewer with a snapshot of CCUSA., Each ad states, “One of America’s 100 Most Worthwhile” validated by Smart Money magazine. Each ad bullets in small print the following services: Housing Assistance, Adoption, Elderly Care, Youth Services, Counseling, Family Support, Adult Day Care, Child Care, Parenting Education, Emergency Financial Assistance, Soup Kitchens, HIV/AIDS Care, Help for At-Risk Children, Emergency Shelter, Out of Home Care, and Food Pantries.” All 22 ads ran in Catholic Digest, US Catholic, America, National Catholic Reporter, and National Catholic Register. They were made available to all churches and Catholic organizations via the website, www.catholiccharitiesinfo.org. Upon visiting the site, registered users can choose an ad, use it as a template and create a press-ready ad. This can also be a poster, or a flyer, with one’s name on it next to CCUSA, to be advertised anywhere one wants. The response results on this campaign were unavailable. However, Catholic Charities appears to have reached their objectives. According to the Catholic Charities finance 2006 report, they have provided
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help for 7,854,104 people regardless of their religious, social, or economic backgrounds in 2006. In all, 173 main Catholic Charities agencies, which included nearly 1,735 branches and affiliates, provided an array of vital, community-based services 13,564,475 times.6
Catholic Extensions
Figure 4- 10: Catholic Extensions Cover 1
In the initial review of Catholic Extensions, I found a historic overview and mission statement: Father Francis Clement Kelley founded Catholic Extensions (CEXT) in 1905. Father Kelley had traveled extensively in rural and remote America. At that time, there were not many churches established in remote parts of America. He started Catholic Extension to extend the resources of the Church so that Catholics in these areas could practice their faith. Many of these areas or “missions” were so remote that Catholic Extension used railroad chapel cars or “chapels on wheels” to reach them. Catholic Extension’s work has always been funded entirely by donations. Today, Catholic Extensions persists in sending priests into remote areas by plane, continuing their mission in the construction of churches. In 2003, CEXT was responsible for building 90 churches and and assisting parish centers in some of the poorest communities throughout the U.S.
Figure 4- 11: Catholic Extensions Cover 2
After reviewing CEXT’s material, it was necessary to contact them to obtain more information. In a telephone interview with Mark Awdell, Director of Communications, he explained that CEXT involves more than the construction of churches. CEXT’s focus is on subsidies for American missionaries, vocations, chapel construction, religious education, campus ministry (every year CEXT helped close to 400 future priests pay for the cost of their seminary
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education), and disaster relief. Mark stated their slogan: “Our mission is America.” When questioned about advertising, Mark stated that they did not need to advertise. “We use direct mail appeal for our donations. Some donations have been generous amounts gifted in wills.” The following is Catholic Extensions financial disclosure on their website for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003: 7
Figure 4- 12: Catholic Extensions Cover 3
Figure 4- 13: Catholic Extensions Cover 4
Contributions provided by donors Current Gifts Bequests Trusts & Endowments Gift Portion of Annuities Earned Income Income from Operations Total Revenue Mission Allocations Building Chapels-CCD centers Subsidies for Priests and Religious Seminarian Education Campus Ministry Liturgical Furnishings Mass Offerings CCD & Religious Programs Special Diocesan Aid Miscellaneous Aid
$7,097,821 $4,108,329 $876,965 $1,174,000 $3,250,313 $16,507,428 $2,613,565 $2,297,137 $1,293,065 $932,300 $433,168 $627,558 $806,115 $944,552 $1,064,164
Problem— CEXT has had an ongoing mission for over 100 years to preserve or establish churches in remote areas, in addition to funding seminarian education. CEXT must compete against many other non-profits for funding this mission.
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Objective— This mission statement is from the Extensions Magazine: “To sustain and extend the Catholic faith in poor and remote mission areas of the US where diocesan resources are insufficient. To build awareness and raise funds for the Church’s needs in these communities so as to enable Catholic evangelism.” Target Audience— American Catholics.
Figure 4-15: Catholic Extensions Cover 6
Figure 4- 16: Catholic Extensions Banner Ad 7
Evaluation— As stated before in the interview with Mark, there is no ad campaign used in CEXT’s fund raising. Their website provides all existing information about missions and progress. The website includes an e-commerce section called the “Extension’s Store” that sells videos, prayer cards, calendars and the Extension Magazine. Figures 4-10 through 4-17 show the cover designs of Extension Magazine. This magazine is a marketing tool. In analysis of the material, the illustrations have a simular style to that of Norman Rockwell, portraying an older America having traditional Catholic values. The magazine premiered in 1906, with a circulation of 50,000 copies. Throughout the 20th century, this magazine has also served as an historic record of expansion and growth of the American Catholic Church. It is still in existence; figure 4-17 was a cover in the 2000. Subscriptions are offered for free on their website, catholic-extension.org. It is a 24-pages, with full color throughout. The content varies on project up-dates, and news on Catholic events. There are advertisements in the publication, but every ad directs the reader back to CEXT; none of the ads is an independent advertiser. On the back cover of every magazine issue are display ads. These ads all have donation themes: Mission Partner Club, many mission parishes cannot afford support of a resident priest. CEXT’s provide direct subsidies for those priests. Memorial Gifts or Living Tributes, $1,000 or more for a church or $500 for a religious education center.
Figure 4-17: Catholic Extensions Cover 8
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Mass Stipends, mass offerings to support mission priests. Mass cards are also available. Outright Gifts – Cash, stocks, land, life insurance policies or other securities are accepted to help missions. Charitable Gift Annuities – Benefit yourself and the American missions at the same time through CEXT annuities that provide for the future of the Church and a guaranteed income to you or loved one for life. Trust Agreements – transfers of money or securities to establish a trust help the missions plan for the future and can provide income to you or your loved ones for the rest of your lives. Bequests in Your Will – you legacy to the mission can be one faith for the next generation. By remembering struggling missions in your will, you can be assured that your last wishes for the Church will be fulfilled.
Figure 4-18: Catholic Extensions Art
Parish Calendars – your parish helps support other needy parishes by using our inspirational calendars. Adopt-a-Parish Program – individuals and parishes can pledge monthly assistance to a specific mission for a one-year period. Prayers – The power of your prayers makes a difference.
There is a suggested donation of $25 per year for their monthly subscriptions. The magazine also has an order form on the inside of every issue promoting further distribution.
Figure 4- 19: Catholic Extensions Art
Mark explained to me that , “the calendars and prayer cards have been around as long as he has, and longer.” That implies approximately seventy years plus. These promotions (Figure 4-20) are available on their website as well. He also mentioned a video for $12.95. Mark explained, “This is far from major cities and bustling suburbs. There are parishes in America that are remote and poor, but where Catholics are rich in spirit. Most Catholics know little about this invisible Catholic Church. It is Mission America.” In review of their website, I found a quicktime movie about a priest who flies into remote areas on missions. Many of the CEXT priests are licensed pilots who pilot planes
Figure 4- 20: Catholic Extensions Calendar
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themselves. In addition to the quicktime movie, there is a 15minute video, “Amazing Grace: An American Missionary Journal Mission America where three inspiring missionaries sacrifice so much to extend the Faith in poor, remote areas of our country.� 7 The prayer cards (Figures 4-18 & 4-19) are sold in packets of 10 or more. The illustrations are traditional and appeal to the more traditional Catholic generation. The calendars use the same illustration approach as the prayer cards. The style of illustration appeals to the older generation and traditional Catholics. All calendar illustrations are done in-house. Occasionally, photography is used, depending on the concept. Mark stated that the calendars with illustrations were more popular. Memorials, holy days and vestment colors are all identified, and all calendars are available in English and Spanish. The calendars are used as a resource for Catholic school and religion teachers. Calendars can be ordered with expanded imprint to promote a parish stewardship program, parish directory, etc. Calendars are only sold to parishes and/or sponsors for distribution to parishioners. It is clear that Catholic Extensions has maintained a solid reputation in this country for over a century. At the beginning of the 20th century, this nonprofit and its campaign had a very high success rate. However, the statistics in Chapter One show that this nonprofit has two problems: 1) decline in seminary enrollment, and 2) increase in church closings. It is unclear as to how successfully this campaign will continue. There was no further information, particularly on increase or decline of funding concerning this nonprofit.
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Archdiocese of Chicago Spreading the Holy Fire Self Promotion While researching for this paper, I found the website for the Archdiocese of Chicago to be visually attractive and outstanding in comparison with the all the other archdiocese sites. Further investigation revealed that its primary objective was evangelism. I had found this archdiocese website noteworthy because of its design and directness. During research (2004-2005), no other archdiocese website matched this level of design. Evangelism is an old Christian practice started by Jesus’ Apostles that was used to promote growth of this religion. I contacted the Chicago archdiocese for further information.
A FOR
PLAN
AND
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STUDY
GUIDE
E VA N G E L I Z I N G
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DEVELOPED BY THE ARCHDIOCESAN OFFICE
I spoke with a priest named Father Joe. He explained that their goal was to develop a campaign that will bring evangelism into the 21st century as a more acceptable approach by today's standards.
F O R E VA N G E L I Z AT I O N A N D T H E C O M M I T T E E F O R E VA N G E L I Z AT I O N
Problem— Decline in congregation. COPYRIGHT 2002 ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO
Target Audience— Parishes, clergy & congregation members.
Figure 4- 21: Holy Fire Cover
Objective— To develop a campaign that will attract young and middle aged adults, to appeal to their sense of spirituality and bring them back or to the Church. Evaluation— “Spreading the Holy Fire” campaign consisted of not only a website, but also a 44-page booklet, and a postcard used for direct
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mail. This material was consistent in its presentation; well designed, it communicated its message very quickly upon viewing. Produced in 2002, the booklets are study guides for Catholics wanting to evangelize their religion. The editorial content is very well written. The agency that designed this campaign were obviously professional. This site displayed intelligence, insightfulness and creativity.
Figure 4- 22: Holy Fire Web Homepage
The agency is called CB Programs, Inc. CB Programs is a corporation created by Christian Brothers Services that offers many creative business services to Catholic organizations. The home page (cbprograms.com) states the following: The Mission of CB Programs, Inc. is to serve the Catholic Community by helping to fulfill organizational and managerial needs through the development of quality, cost effective, innovative programs and administrative services. Among the services offered are website design and hosting. Their portfolio consisted of fifteen samples of other Catholic organizations that vary in services. Chicago was the only archdiocese shown as a client on their website as of 2007. The other material used in this promotion matches in design and paper stock. The purpose of the card is promoting the website: www.goingforth.org. The website is also consistent in design with the printed material as shown in Figure 4-22. The site is bilingual. It’s in English and Polish. During the development of this study, this campaign had developed a school specializing in evangelism and added a
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networking blog forum. The site was reconfigured to accept registered users between 2004 and 2007 while under this study. These improvements imply growth and therefor show the campaign as effective.
Washington, D.C. Come Home for Christmas Advertisements
Figure 4- 23: Come Home for Christmas Ad 1
While interviewing one of the USCCB communications directors, I inquired if the Church ever used advertisements to the public around Catholic holidays. I was told that the USCCB does not advertise for that purpose, however, there is one ad campaign that runs every year in Washington D.C. It was suggested that I speak with a lawyer named John E. Kramer. John produces the ads every year; he is the Vice President for Communications at the Institute for Justice, a law firm based in Washington, D.C. Problem— John Kramer explained that living in Washington, D.C. is fast-paced; he feels that people tend to forget the true meaning of Christmas. Objective— The objective of the ad series is to remind Catholics to go to church and to go to confession. Target Audience— Washington D.C. metropolitan area.
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Evaluation— John explained that he creates simple ads to run in the metro train system. The Institute for Justice sponsors the ad placements. This ad series ran only in the Washington DC area. The headlines are effective, but the visual quality is suffering. The images in the ads appear to be scanned from pre-printed material creating a dot pattern making readability poor.
Figure 4- 24: Come Home Ad 2
When asked if there was any indication of response to the ads, John said, “No. But, I see people jam themselves into the train during rush hour every day - it gets more hectic during the Christmas season. One year, I saw a guy in a business suit rush in to the train that I was on. He was loaded down with his brief case, shopping bags and was attempting to talk on his cell phone. When he hung up, he looked up and saw the Come Home for Christmas ad. He stared at it. I noticed that his face relaxed. He then pulled out a pen and wrote something down. I believe he wrote down the confession times that are outlined in every ad. That's good enough for me.” Location of churches and available confession times are listed in the ads. They have been posted in trains and buses around the Washington, DC area over the last eight years.
Figure4- 25 Come Home Ad 3
Figure 4- 26: Come Home Ad 4 Chapter Four Self Promotions & Fundraising
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USCCB Poverty in America Campaign The final case study of this chapter was produced by the USCCB. The difference between this campaign and the other USCCB campaigns is that this campaign was developed by another branch within the USCCB. This branch is the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). In the 1970’s, the Church established a campaign called the “Poverty Pulse.” This campaign raised funds through collections conducted by all archdiocese around the country. Five years ago, the CCHD committee concluded that poverty donations had declined.
Figure 4- 27: Poverty USA Banner Ad
Problem— 32 million Americans are living below the poverty line. The USCCB suspected that this poverty problem was not common knowledge, and those who were aware of it, felt little compassion for various reasons. The conditions of war and recession were not unfamiliar to the American culture. So why have people stopped donating towards this cause? Objective— “Poverty Pulse,” was a study conducted by the CCHD. This survey is a study designed to evaluate attitudes toward poverty in America. This was the fifth in a series of studies conducted annually, beginning in December of 2000. The results of the Poverty Pulse was used by the CCHD to promote understanding of poverty in America and greater awareness of the problem in American society. 8 During an interview with Tim Collins, Communications Director of CCHD, he stated: “These findings confirmed that it was
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necessary to plant ideas and change people’s attitude towards poor people. When people are coached, there is an underlying concern that they themselves might slip below the poverty line someday.” Target Audience— Americans
Figure 4- 28: Poverty USA Flash Animation
Evaluation—The umbrella name for this campaign is “Poverty USA.” Four campaigns have been launched since 2001, all of which were recognized by the Ad Council. Tim Collins believes that the Ad Council endorsement helped get the exposure and distribution needed to reach their audience. The campaigns were circulated as public service announcements (PSA). Much like the other campaigns produced by the USCCB, these PSA’s relied on the generosity of the media network and publishers for placement. This campaign excelled over the other USCCB campaigns in support, funding and recognition. As of 2005, Poverty USA achieved a total of thirty-six million dollars worth of donated broadcast and print.9 TV: 240 stations in 46 states Radio: 504 outlets in 50 states
Figure 4- 29: Poverty USA Flash Animation
Print: 1,274 insertions in newspapers and magazine.10 The 2001 campaign -”Poverty, USA,” was launched. In 2002, a campaign entitled “1 in 6,” focused on the plight of American children in poverty, shown in Figure 4-27.
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In 2003, a campaign titled “Real Words” (shown in figures 4-36 thru 4-43) brought the concerns of Americans in poverty to more than 400 million viewers. Real Words aired on TV and radio stations and ran in newspapers and magazines nationwide. This campaign garnered more than $11.2 million in donated airtime and page space. 11 In 2004, “One Nation” campaign, reminded Americans of the resourceful nature that has built our nation and urged Americans to work together to end poverty once and for all. The campaign gained nearly $12 million in donated airtime and page space. 12 The 2005 campaign, “A Portrait of Hope,” (shown in Figure 4-33 thru 435) was the fifth campaign. Portraits of Hope communicated to an even greater audience with real stories of people who are finding ways to bring help, hope and, most important, permanent solutions to the problems of hunger, affordable shelter and daycare in their own communities. This campaign was an excellent approach. Catholic Charities survey, Figure 4-83, shows that 65% of those interviews stated they would donate more money if there was need in their own community.13 This campaign was produced for print, radio, television and web. Figure 4- 30: Poverty USA Ad 1
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Figure 4- 32; Poverty USA Ad 3
Their web site www.povertyusa.com offers electronic ribbons, shown in Figures 4-41 thru 4-42. These ribbons are e-stickers that can be downloaded with html code to be placed on a visitor’s site. Upon clicking on the ribbon button, it links back to povertyusa.com. It is a resourceful tool in bringing a viewer’s awareness to the campaign. The traditional advertising methods used in this campaign were enriched by two other marketing techniques. The CCHD declared the month of January in the U.S. as “Poverty Awareness Month.” They choose January, because this was the month that all of their campaigns launched.
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In addition, Poverty USA’s call to action was re-enforced through an education “center” (on the website) that was designed in three levels and made available on their website: Grades K-5, Grades 6-12, and Adult Education. Each level had four points. Each unit is then further divided into four sections: 1) Focus: The main theme, topic or concept covered in the unit, together with introductory remarks suitable for reading aloud to a group.
Figure 4- 34: Poverty USA Flash Animation
2) Activity: Endeavors designed to get group members thinking not only about the life of those in poverty, but their own lives as well. 3 ) Getting Involved: Community oriented activities that can be pursued either in a group setting or on their own – activities that, by encouraging community involvement, will help groups further their understanding of poverty in America.
Figure 4- 35: Poverty USA Flash Animation
4) Learning More: Suggested resources – both print and online – for further exploration of topics and issues related to poverty in America
Figure 4- 36: Poverty USA Flash Animation Chapter Four Self Promotions & Fundraising
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“To solve a problem, you must first try to understand it. And when it comes to finding a lasting end to the problem of poverty in the United States, the solution begins with education. It means recognizing the size and the causes of the problem, comprehending poverty’s effect on human dignity, and knowing how deeply it impacts the quality of life for everyone in our communities.” — Tim Collins. Figure 4- 37: Poverty USA Flash Animation
Figure 4- 38: Poverty USA Flash Animation
Figure 4- 39: Poverty USA Flash Animation
No truer words have ever been spoken. The Education Center on PovertyUSA.org assists teachers, community, church and service group leaders, home schoolers and other educators with resources they can use to initiate meaningful discussions about poverty in America today. It is designed to help individuals and groups not only begin to understand the size and scope of the problem, but also start them thinking about the ways in which they can take action to help create an awareness about poverty in their community and this nation. 14 Tim Collins said it was difficult to measure how people’s attitudes have changed towards poverty over the last five years. There is no survey tracking in place at the time of this interview. The poverty donations in Church had no results available either. Website traffic on hits to the website was also not available at this time in 2006.
Figure 4- 40: Poverty USA Flash Animation
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Figure 4- 41: Poverty USA Banner Ad
Figure 4-42: Poverty USA Banner Ad
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In 2007, January was designated “Poverty in America Awareness Month”. The CCHD had launched a new national awareness campaign that calls attention to the 37 million Americans now living in poverty, according to the most recent U.S. Census figures. At the same time, it focuses greater attention on the struggles poor and low-income people face who are living “below the poverty line”.15 Timed to coincide with the beginning of Poverty in America Awareness Month, the new CCHD-sponsored campaign uses television, radio and print ads to attract attention to the high number of working Americans who are struggling to survive with lowincome jobs. The poverty rate declined only slightly from 12.7% in 2004 to 12.6% in 2005.16 Since it inception, the Poverty Campaign has provided seed money to train leaders in the community for projects that are initiated and led by low-income people themselves. Over the years, CCHD has offered a total of $280 million to more than 7,000 such projects.17
One in ten families lives like this. Life below the poverty line is hard. It means not having enough income to live on. And 37 million Americans live there. Many have jobs. And many have children. Find out what you can do.
This campaign is by far the most impressive, not only because of its professional execution, but also because its approach has a humanitarian service orientation and is non-judgmental. Therefore it appeals more to the general public.
Go to www.povertyusa.org and get involved. Catholic Campaign for Human Development
For a family of four, the poverty line is $19,971.
Figure 4-43: Poverty USA Ad Chapter Four Self Promotions & Fundraising
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FOOTNOTES 1 Borysiewicz, Shelly. “New Poll of Catholics Shows Impact of Economy on Charitable Giving,” Press Release. Media Relations. Catholic Charities USA. 14 May 2005 Internet; accessed August 4, 2005. http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/content_displays/index.cfm 2 Catholic Charities Omnibus Survey. April 2003. Internet; accessed October 1, 2003. http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/members_onimbus_survey.html 3 Ibid 4 Borysiewicz, Shelly. “New Poll of Catholics Shows Impact of Economy on Charitable Giving,” Press Release. Media Relations. Catholic Charities USA. 14 May 2005 Internet; accessed August 4, 2005. http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/content_displays/index.cfm 5 Ibid 6 Catholic Charities Finance Report. Catholic Charities Network. Alexandria, VA. Internet; accessed October 8, 2007. http://community.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=363 7 Catholic Church Extensions Society. About Us Financial Information. Internet; accessed February 21, 2005. http://www.catholicextension.org/financialinformation.Doc?id=233 8 “Poverty Pulse, Wave Five,” Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Market Research Bureau LLC. Washington, D.C. January. 2005. 9 “Poverty USA,” Catholic Campaign for Human Development. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 2004.. Internet; accessed May 20, 2005. http://www. povertyusa.org 10 Ibid 11 Ibid 12 Ibid 13 “Poverty in America” Catholic Campaign for Human Development. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 2005 Internet; accessed July 23, 2005. http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/press.shtml 14 Ibid 15 Ibid 16 Ibid 17 Ibid Chapter Four Self Promotions & Fundraising
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The Catholic Church was founded during times of political upheaval and transition. When the passions of heart, mind and soul are united within ourselves, they drive us to reach for a higher good. However, the paradox of this is, history has shown that this same act of reaching for a greater good has also cost countless millions of lives. Ironically, when true God given spirituality becomes eclipsed by man-made religion, some leaders will attempt to claim control over how their followers think, how they behave and will demand their thinking loyalty to insure that particular religion’s growth, eventually gaining even more power. In the mindset of this type of leader, alternative thought and beliefs are not acceptable, because they feel that potential change would threaten to dissolve their existing way of thought, and would eventually cause them to lose control of their followers. This dynamic challenged the early Christians, and appears to remain as a core problem that faces the Catholic Church today. In 50 AD, early Christians were viewed as “radical, deranged, flesh eating outcasts.” Early Christians met in secret for their communal meal, (served by women) and soon it gave rise to all sorts of rumors. They called it an agape, or Love Feast, from a Greek word meaning ‘brotherly love’. Love Feast! There was talk in no time of sexual orgies in dark secret places. And the word also got around of the Christians eating flesh and blood of some leader of theirs. – Gascoigne, 13.1 There is no doubt that early church leaders had to fight for not just recognition, but respect. I cannot help but bring attention to the comments that were made by Gascoigne, who was an ancient philosopher and politician; he criticizes early christians for 1) treating women as equals and 2) cannibalism 3) sexual orgies. Resistance to seeing women as equals and/or issues around human sexuality, seem to be a constant thread in the Church communications materials in the study.
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In recognizing that Gascoigne most likely made these accusations for political advantage at the time, I find it ironic that these two points are still serious issues that haunt church leaders in the 21st century. This chapter may not be an easy chapter to read for those who are devout Catholics. The result of a five-year study on some very serious communication problems within the church structure, the study would be incomplete without this information. With all due respect to those clergy members who are true to their promise and are steadfast to their spiritual vows, this is not an attack on them, or anyone who follows the Catholic faith. Although this chapter was written with truth and open communication in mind, maintaining objectivity in certain sections was difficult, but done to the best of my ability. Research for this study has shown many modern-day communication problems other than news reports. It’s a substantial manifestation of problems that collectively continue to challenge the American Catholic Church. The problems that will be reviewed are: 1) Changing demographics 2) Internal church communications 3) Vatican political involvement with the United Nations 4) Clergy crimes and breaking of vows 5) Consequences of condemnation of homosexuality
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Women and Men Religious in Statistical Perspective
Figure 5-1: Clergy Statistics
Women Religious in the United States: Twentieth-Century Trends
Changing Demographics 1) POPULATION GROWTH An increasingly prominent world religion, Christianity is estimated today to have 2.1 billion followers, roughly 33% of the world population as shown in Chapter One, page five, Figure 1-3. (This pie chart shows approximated estimates, and not definitive numbers.)
Figure 5-2: Clergy Statistics
As of 2005, there were 67,515,016 Catholics in the United States1 (22% of the U.S. population), and 1 billion Catholics worldwide.2
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Overall Seminary Enrollment Trends, 1968-2007
Figure 5-3: Clergy Statistics
2) TRENDS DURING SEMINARY DECLINE The Catholic population in the U.S. has more than doubled since 1950, and the faces of American Catholics have become increasingly diverse. At the same time, the number of priests available for ministry to this changing Catholic community has not kept pace.3 Figure 5-1, is the most current report at the time of writing this thesis. CARA is showing decline in priests’ and nuns’ population. Figure 5-2 is showing that the nun enrollment declined rapidly during the 1970’s as well as seminary enrollment, as shown on Figure 5-3. During academic year 2006-2007, enrollments in the post-baccalaureate level of priestly formation totaled 3,274, a net decrease of 32 seminarians (1%) below last year’s theologate enrollments. Of these, 74% (2,410) were candidates for diocese and 26% (864) were from religious orders. While diocesan seminarian enrollments increased very slightly (13 seminarians) from last year, religious seminarian enrollments decreased by 45 seminarians (5%) from last year. These totals include pre-theology students who may have undergraduate degrees in another academic discipline but need additional work in the philosophy or theology to qualify for theologate enrollment. The 2007 college seminary enrollment of 1,365 seminarians reflect an increase of 68 seminarians (5%) from last year. High school seminary enrollments declined 4% from last year.4 Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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Figure 5-3 chart shows decline for college and high school seminary enrollment that began a rapid descend from 1968 to 1973. There is a slight increase during the mid-70’s for high school seminary enrollment; it declines during the late 70’s, then eventually plummets below the other two during the early 90’s. The college seminary enrollments are even with the theologate seminary enrollments during the mid-70’s to the early 80’s, then also decline. Note that the theologate starts to level out during the early 80’s after its decline; it actually has less curve than the other two. It is also very interesting to examine the conditions and events that impacted American lifestyles during the 1970’s decade. Below is a 70’s timeline of major events that occurred during this decade. The events highlighted in red are related to the Catholic Church campaigns discussed in previous chapters.
April 22, 1970 - The first Earth Day celebration is held with millions of American participating in anti-pollution demonstrations. These demonstrations included school children walking to school instead of riding the bus. May 4, 1970 - Four students from Kent State University in Ohio were killed and nine wounded by National Guardsmen during a protest against the Vietnam War’s spread into Cambodia. January 2, 1971 - A ban on the television advertisement of cigarettes goes into effect in the United States. May 10, 1971 - The Senate approves a Constitutional Amendment, the 26th, that would lower the voting age from 21 to 18. House approval came on March 23. It was ratified by the states by June 30 and received certification by President Richard M. Nixon on July 5. September 17, 1971 - The advent of the microprocessor age at Texas Instruments includes the introduction of the 4-bit TMS 1000 with a
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calculator on the chip; on November 15, 1971, Intel released the 4-bit 4004 microprocessor developed by Federico Faggin. It is unknown whose chip predated the other in the laboratory environment. March 30, 1972 - The largest attacks by North Vietnam troops across the demilitarized zone in four years prompts bombing raids to begin again by United States forces against Hanoi and Haiphong on April 15, ending a four year cessation of those raids. May 22, 1972 - President Richard M. Nixon makes the first trip of the U.S. President to Moscow. The week of summit discussions would lead to a strategic arms pact, SALT I, that would be signed by Nixon and Premier Leonid Brezhnev on May 26. On July 8, the White House would announce the sale of American wheat to the Soviet Union. June 17, 1972 - The Watergate crisis begins when four men are arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office building on the same day that Okinawa is returned from U.S. control back to Japan. January 22, 1973 - The United States Supreme Court ruled in Roe vs. Wade that a woman cannot be prevented by a state from having an abortion during the first six months of pregnancy. January 30, 1973 - Two defendants in the Watergate break-in trial are convicted. The remaining five defendants had pleaded guilty to the crime two weeks earlier. On April 30, the Watergate affair widens when four members of the Nixon administration; aides H.R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, John W. Dean, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign under suspicion of obstructing justice. During Senate hearings on June 25, Dean would admit that the administration had conspired to cover up facts about the case, leading to the refusal of the President to release tapes concerning Watergate. October 19, 1974 - The Arab Oil Embargo: Oil imports from Arab oilproducing nations are banned to the United States after the start of the Arab-Israeli war, creating the 1973 energy crisis. Imports would not resume until March 18, 1975. Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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August 9, 1974 - President Richard M. Nixon resigns the office of the presidency, avoiding the impeachment process and admitting his role in the Watergate affair. He was replaced by Vice President Gerald R. Ford, who, on September 8, 1974, pardoned Nixon for his role. Nixon was the first U.S. president to ever resign from office. April 29-30, 1975 - Communist forces complete their takeover of South Vietnam, forcing the evacuation from Saigon of civilians from the United States, and the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam. July 4, 1976 - The Bicentennial of the United States is celebrated throughout the nation. The 200th anniversary included Operation Sail in New York City, as well as a Bicentennial Wagon Train that traversed the nation during the year. July 20, 1976 - The Viking 1 space probe successfully lands on Mars. It would be followed by a second unmanned Viking II on the Utopia Plains on September 3. The first color photos of the surface of Mars are taken on these flights. November 2, 1976 - Challenger Jimmy Carter, a relatively unknown former Democratic governor from Georgia, bests Gerald Ford in a closely contested election. Carter received a slight majority of the popular vote, as well as an Electoral College victory of 297 to 240. November 26, 1976 - Microsoft becomes a registered trademark, one year after its name for microcomputer software is first mentioned by Bill Gates to Paul Allen in a letter. August 4, 1977 - The cabinet level Energy Department is created by Jimmy Carter. July 13, 1977 - The New York City blackout results in massive looting and disorderly conduct during its twenty-five hour duration.
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September 21, 1977 - Fifteen nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a nuclear-proliferation pact, slowing the spread of nuclear weapons around the world. March 3, 1978 - In one of the first articles on the subject of human cloning, the New York Post prints an article on the book, "The Cloning of Man" which supposes the cloning of a human being. September 17, 1978 - The Camp David Peace Agreement between Israel and Egypt is formulated in twelve days of secret negotiations at the Camp David retreat of the President. President Jimmy Carter witnessed the signing of the agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House. October 16, 1978 - Pope John Paul II, Korol Wojtyla of Poland, is elected Pope at Vatican City. March 28, 1979 - An accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania occurs when a partial core meltdown is recorded. A tense situation ensued for five days until the reactor was deemed under control. It is the largest accident in U.S. nuclear power history and considered the worst until the Soviet Chernobyl accident seven years later. November 4, 1979 - The Iran Hostage Crisis begins when sixty-three Americans are among ninety hostages taken at the American embassy in Tehran by three thousand militant student followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, who demand that the former shah return to Iran to stand trial.4 In summary, seminary decline had its tipping point during the 1970’s and continued to decline over the last three decades. Reviewing these highlights during the 1970’s, one understands these events are still resonating today. There was a tremendous cultural shift during this decade. Sex, drugs and rock & roll were not uncommon and had become mainstream. The seventies generation embraced the call to rebel against authority and started the sexual liberation in the U.S. These
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cultural shifts are indications of why the seminary enrollment decline began during the 1970’s. According to CARA, their statistics show since 1965: priests are down by -30%, brothers are down by -36% and sisters are down by -54%.5 3) CLOSING OF CHURCHES As shown in Chapter One, page 4, the Northeast of the U.S. has shown the largest percentage (63%) of closings of churches, and the Midwest shows 59%. These regions indicate more than half of the original number have been eliminated, While the South (11%) and West (15%) indicate far below half. The total number of churches closed to date was not verifiable. Closings of churches are due to lack of funds and are parallel in the timeline with lawsuits against church clergy. This would imply that the closing and/or merging of churches is an indication of needing to sell or close, because the money is needed in lawsuit settlements. 4) AGING INFRASTRUCTURE Priests and nuns who served American communities will be retiring or dying during the next few decades. Consequently, the National Collections has consistently shown that the highest amount of parish collections go towards the National Religious Retirement Office, as shown in Chapter One, Figure 1-7, page eight. It is obvious that the existing American clergy are fewer in numbers as shown in Figure 5-1, on page three of this chapter. Today’s clergy will naturally age, living longer, with fewer American clergy replacements, as shown in Figure 5-3, page four. 5) PARISH DECLINE Surveys conducted by the Gallup Poll, an organization that researches statistics on religions, showed parish attendance to church maintained its levels over the last five
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years. This is indicating that church goers did not continue to decline in numbers, most likely as a direct result of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Note: The Church services attendance question differs in wording from the one used in CARA’s polls. Gallup measures attendance in the week prior to the survey, whereas the CARA question measures generalized attendance. Gallup’s surveys estimate mass service attendance in any given week and the CARA measures the percentage of Catholics who attend mass service every week. In 2003, Gallup surveys indicated that, on average, 40 percent of Catholics said they attended mass service within seven days of being surveyed (compared to 74 percent in 1958). The three polls conducted by CARA in 2003 indicated, on average, that 33 percent of Catholics said they attend mass service every week (compared to 33 percent in 2000). In summary, the U.S. population is increasing at a rapid pace, but the amount of clergy replacements is decreasing. The number of churches are also decreasing. It is evident that the Church is in a process of thinning out. Exactly how far is yet to be seen. 6) TECHNOLOGY & GLOBALIZATION IMPACTS The history of technology has revealed a timeline of phenomenal and unexpected consequences. Inventions such as the wheel, compass, lightbulb, printing press and so many more innovative creations have taken each generation of mankind to a next level. As we move foreword, we go further and faster, expanding and networking. Human thought capacity becomes more advanced in every step we take. While this is part of mankind’s natural evolvement, there are many repercussions when unchecked. Think of the bullet, the atomic bomb, satellites, the ozone layer. Knowledge is power. With higher levels of thinking, comes a greater level of responsibility. In industry, technology is replacing human workers. What is happening to those human workers? Today’s children are being entertained by television and computers. Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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What kind of impact will that have on their creative and problem-solving abilities? Is our immediate wealth today going to shoot ourselves in the foot tomorrow? As we move foreword, how will technology impact future generations in prayer and meditation? Looking back to Gallileo Galilei and Leonardo DaVinci, these amazing thinkers are only two of a long line of contenders for innovative thought. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, the Catholic Church opposed scientific exploration that appeared to elevate man to the same levels of God. Gallileo’s work was considered to be blasphemous. DaVinci was not on the hot plate with the Church as much. His male relations and “crazy” ideas of exploring in today’s terms the world of biology and aeronautics, were kept private. This is not to say that one (religion and science) was right and the other wrong. Both had equivalent and crucial roles in taking us to where we are today. But, now that we are here in the 21st century, will religion and science remain equally strong? What does this mean for the Catholic Church, that is so deeply rooted in tradition? The Catholic Church has obviously embraced technology. It had utilized the compass in spreading Christianity. Also, as shown in the previous chapters, the church utilizes varying forms of modern technology in communication. So, how is technology a problem for the church? Technology is a challenge to us all, and is a problem to those who maintain traditional methods. Both the industrial revolution and the digital revolution have affected our social, political and economic systems on a global level. Their history has shown inventions whose impact has extended far beyond the activities for which their creators developed them. The technology we are concerned with is the transformation of information into the digital form, where it can be manipulated by computers and transmitted by Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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networks. The driving force behind this transformation is the remarkable science of semiconductors, which has shifted the world’s economy from an industrial to an information base in a little over a quarter of century.6 This transformation has been in effect since the 1960’s following Moore’s Law, a prediction by Intel founder Gordon Moore. He forecast that every eighteen months, chip density (computer technology) would double, while the cost remained constant. For example, my first purchase (1992) of an Apple computer IICI which had 750 megabits hard drive with a fifteen inch monitor cost $5,000. Together, the monitor and the cpu (central processing unit) physically weighed approximately 35-40 pounds. Today, my Apple MacBook Pro laptop has 4 gigabit hardrive and was purchased for less than $5,000 in 2007. My laptop computer weights less than 6 pounds. In computer memory storage language, there are 1,000 megabits in one gigabit. The bottom line in Metcalf’s Law is: computers will be faster, cheaper and smaller, every eighteen months. Another forecast by a leading digital thinker is known as Metcalfe’s Law. Robert Metcalfe, founder of 3Com Corporation, deduced that networks (regardless of telephones, computers or people) dramatically increase in value with each additional node or user. Metcalfe’s Law values the utility of a network as the square of the number of users. An example of this is railroad gauges, Morse code, and standardized electrical outlets, telephones and fax machines in the 2oth century. Satellites, ethernet, internet and blue tooth(wireless technology) are standard technology protocols at the moment. Essentially, once the standard has achieved pivotal mass, its value to everyone multiplies. Combining both Moore’s and Metcalfe’s laws, modern communications are accelerating, societies are exploding with new ideas, and cultural boundaries are melting down. In addition to improving overall social welfare by creating what economists call “public goods,” this inexhaustible and increasingly valuable information base has Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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another, more daunting economic effect. By making it easier for people and the devices they use to find, use, share, and add to the information base of the network, the internet has developed into a commercial environment, an open market in the truest sense of the world.7 The open market appears to move at the speed of Moore’s Law and with the effectiveness of Metcalfe’s Law. Google products such as google earth (allows users to visually visit satellite aerials of anywhere in the world that has a zip code or street address) and google analylitics (management tracking of websites) deploy at lightning speed. However, there are still businesses which struggle for prolonged periods of time just to update their Windows operating system, and many individuals are challenged to update browser software, or keep up in learning how to use updated software and hardware. As the market becomes more efficient, the size and organizational complexity of the modern industrial firm becomes uneconomic, since firms exist only to the extent that they reduce transactional costs more effectively. Trends toward downsizing, outsourcing, and otherwise distributing activities away from centralized to decentralized management support this view. These trends will only accelerate in the coming years. Firms will not disappear, but they will become smaller, comprised of complicated webs of well-managed relationships... ...the interaction of Moore and Metcalfe is creating a powerful second-order affect that unintentionally challenge the basis of business systems in general, as well as social, economic, and even political systems. Consider the steam engine, which opened the American West, but in doing so unsettled the political equilibrium between the North and South, forcing the long-deferred resolution of the slavery question. Similarly, today’s digital revolution generates considerable stress as it interacts with systems that are slower to change. The digital revolution’s velocity and trajectory create more disruptive ripples than earlier technologies, giving everyone a permanent case of what Alvin Toffler many years ago termed “future shock.” This phenomenon is being called the Law of Disruption, which states that where social systems improve incrementally, technology improves exponentially. As the gap between the two increases, so does the potential for noncontinuous, disruptive, indeed revolutionary change. 8
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The Law of Disruption takes place in other unrelated systems outside of the entities that Moore’s and Metcalfe’s laws are impacting. For example, “television redefined relationships of family and community; cloning challenges basic understandings of definitions of character. Electronic commerce has caught national and local governments off guard, and while they scamper to figure out how to apply whomever’s law, the technology continues to evolve into forms less and less analogous to enterprises with which they are familiar.”9 Thomas Kuhn is a historian who stated in 1962, “there would be discoveries so fundamental that they will knock out the basic pillars of universally held beliefs. These paradigm shifts will require new structures to be built to explain them.” We are witnessing this very statement in the 21st century. One of these new structures is cyberspace. Religion does have an advantage over these digital laws, in that religion plays an opposite role to technology. While technology is fast and everywhere we look, full of external communication of oneself, religions stand for belief systems. Religion’s essence is innate communication in many cultural practices. This aspect of religion will most likely be protected and exempt from the social structures impacted by the Law of Disruption. However, research has shown the Catholic Church had expanded way beyond being merely a religion. It is a sovereign state with its own flag and currency; it owns property worth billions of dollars around the world; it has a school system that is in-between public and private schools; it is a paradigm that the corporate world should take note of. The Catholic Church will without doubt, be included in the social structures impacted by the Law of Disruption. Essentially, because of its own history of strategic planning and design, the Catholic Church has very good reason to continue to be wary of science. Technology is changing everything, and resistance to change is futile.
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The Vatican’s Relation to the United Nations The Vatican is an independent state as shown in Chapter One, page nine. The Catholic Church exercises its right to vote. Within the US, the American Catholic Church clergy does not pay taxes, nor are they required to serve on jury duty. They can vote in presidential elections. On a grander scale, the Vatican holds a seat at the United Nations as a non-member state permanent observer. This allows the Holy See to speak and vote at UN conferences. This is a unique position within the UN, as no other religion has the same status. The problem in holding this position is — as one of the world’s leading religions, the Catholic Church is not demonstrating objectivity in voting on cultural health issues. The United Nations does not promote abortion; it maintains that the legal status of abortion is the sovereign right of each nation. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the main organization for population . Most of its assistance to countries is provided in the area of reproductive health services, including family planning and information. According to the UNFPA, these services are the most effective means of preventing abortions, and to eliminate the need for abortions is UNFPA’s goal.10 Research has shown that the UNFPA goal to eliminate abortion is NOT due to the question of “when does life begin.” The UNFPA fights against abortion due to the statistics of how many women on a global level die due to unsafe abortions as shown in Chapter Three, page 68..11 The social reality is, women will continue to have sex. Some sexual activity will result in unwanted pregnancies, and these women will seek abortion to survive.
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The UNFPA, joined efforts with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Federation of the Red Cross in 1996 in addressing the reproductive health needs of refugees from Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire in the Great Lakes regions of Central Africa. As a result, approximately 220,000 displaced women of child-bearing age received a package of reproductive health care services together with other emergency supplies. The package addressed women's needs in family planning, including contraception; assisted childbirth; complications connected with unsafe abortions; sexual violence, including rape; and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.12 The Holy See voted against the humanitarian aid decision for distribution of condoms in these third world countries. The Holy See stands on its principles: members believe in abstinence, and one should not have sex unless it is to procreate in marriage. While admirable, this courageous act of standing on one’s beliefs regardless of the consequences, has created multiple problems for the Catholic Church. The reality is that third world cultures do not embrace or understand the church’s views on sex. People in third world countries have sex either to survive (prostitution) or to experience pleasure since sex is one of the few pleasures available to them. For the most part, mainstream people on a global level comprehend this, either consciously or subconsciously. The same people who are aware of this problem would not be aligned with the Catholic Church’s efforts in voting against condom distribution. This contributes to the perception of varying people in the U.S. and Europe that the Catholic Church is “old school,” has “old fashioned thinking,” and “tunnel vision”. These are perfect conditions for the Law of Disruption to build on.
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The Holy See’s actions voting against condom distribution caused Catholics for Pro Choice, as shown in Chapter Four, to publicly criticize the Catholic Church, and build support in demanding change within the Church. Although this last notion was not stated anywhere in the ad series shown, just by using the name “Catholics for Pro Choice,� implies they are not out to destroy the Church, they are merely demanding change. This intention is building; there are countless books and movies produced by Catholics within the last decade right in line with Catholics for Pro Choice.
Internal Church Communications Chapter One, page nine reviewed the hierarchy of the Catholic Church from the Pope down to small parish priests / pastors. As previously stated, each priest is in charge of his own local church, and each bishop is in charge of his own diocese. What is the communication protocol within the church structure in the event that something major occurs on either local level or metropolitan level? It is a private matter and is dealt with internally. Therefore it is not clear to the general public if actual counsel happens between priests and their bishops, and between the bishop and the rest of the USCCB. It is hard to accept that given the high level of networking shown in previous chapters, that the USCCB is unaware of issues that occur on the local church levels. It is further disturbing to think that the Vatican is unaware of challenges that the USCCB is confronted with from the American public. This indicates that one of two, or a combination of both, possibilities exists within the internal church communications: There is a lack of communication due to no checks and balances. Therefore authority figures are uninformed. Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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The truth is being withheld on clergy wrongdoing to protect the Church’s reputation. There is another group within the church structure that has been found to be practically invisible while conducting research on this study - nuns/sisters. According to the CARA statistics shown in figure 5-1, page 102, between the years 1965-2000, priests and brothers combined show an average of 30% decline. Sisters’ decline was 54% during this same period. In 1945, within the U.S., there were 12,413 priests and 7,003 brothers, totalling 19,416 male clergy. There were 122,159 women serving as sisters/nuns. As of the year 2000, there were 79,876 female clergy compared to 23,591 male (does not include current number of bishops) clergy. If one speculates on additional influences to these declines in clergy, one obvious condition in 1945 was World War II (WWII). This war had impacted many cultures and regions and, opposite the amount of tragic deaths, WWII triggered an increase in religious activity. Most people usually appeal to their religious sense of self when threatened. This could be also an influence as to why American parish attendance maintained its levels after the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2002. Regardless of how the clergy numbers arrived in the year 2000, according to these statistics, it is very clear that women were, and still are, the majority over men serving in the American Catholic Church. Yet, in this system, majority does not rule. Actually, the majority (nuns/sister) have no voice to the public, and do not have equality within the Church structure. During an interview with a nun in New York City (whose name will remain hidden as per her request) I asked her, “did you know what was happening with regards to the priest sex scandals?” In her response, she could barely speak. Her eyes swelled up with tears and she nodded her head, yes. I then asked, “How could you let this happen?” Her body language told me she simply did not Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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know and was helpless to respond to the question. When this woman first walked into the room to meet with me, she entered with confidence. Many nuns like her have taught millions of students over the years. Those students are now adults, Catholics who are in a very different mindset than that of the generations before them. The lack of communication from the women of the Catholic Church is subconsciously compounding the growing perception of the public’s that the church is painfully slow to change. Over time, this may create a general disregard of the Church’s views on social concerns. The internal communication between the USCCB and the Vatican problem was shown on PBS News Hour Report. The USCCB proposed a plan of action to the Vatican in response to an overwhelming number of accusations against priests doing sexual harm to children. On such a monumental task, it is obvious that the Vatican and the USCCB did not initially join forces to address this festering mound of problems. Instead, the USCCB was publicly rejected by the Vatican. This opened up Pandora’s box, as news report: in the world, where else this crime may be happening at the hands of priests. October 18, 2002, 4:06pm EDT: VATICAN REJECTS U.S. BISHOPS' SEXUAL ABUSE POLICY The Vatican on Friday rejected a new sexual abuse policy developed by U.S. bishops, saying elements of its zero tolerance doctrine conflict with universal church laws and could threaten the rights of accused priests... The policy, which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved in June, calls for a priest's removal from his ministry if church officials receive a "credible" accusation that he had sexually abused a minor. The U.S. bishops adopted the plan during a meeting in Dallas in response to enormous pressure that they take a tough stance and immediate action against abusive clergy following a string of church abuse cases coming to trial in recent months. The scandal has lead to the resignation or dismissal more than 250 priests
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and has prompted some 300 lawsuits from victims since January, when reports surfaced of a Boston priest who was reassigned even though molestation allegations against him had been passed to church authorities. Many American diocese have already begun implementing the policy and Gregory said that the Vatican response did not compel those diocese to stop. The Rev. Robert Bullock, an organizer of the Boston Priests Forum, an advocacy group for priests, hailed the Vatican response. Bullock said the U.S. policy, "did all the things necessary for victims. But the question is what does it do for due process for priests?" However, Mark Serrano, a board member of the Survivor's Network of Those Abused by Priests called the Vatican response "a victory for Vatican bureaucrats and recalcitrant bishops."13 Information on the exact protocol of how internal church communications operate was not found. Lastly, there is the question of how internal church communications interact with the Catholic network. As shown in Chapter One, page 12, there are over 160 organizations in the U.S. that network with the Church. While interviewing Mary Jamet, a campaign project coordinator with the USCCB, I asked her if the USCCB was involved in direction on campaigns that other Catholic organizations produce. For example, Catholic Answers. Her response was diplomatic and did not disagree with me when I expressed the opinion that I found Catholic Answers campaign style to be abrasive in comparison to that of the USCCB. It seemed to me that Catholic Answers is similar to a thundering loud cousin who does not know when to stop and listen at a family dinner. She laughed and said no, many Catholic organizations are responsible for their own communication projects and internal operations. I asked, “So, the USCCB has no involvement with the Catholic Answers anti-DaVinci campaign?� Her response was no. The Catholic network apparently operates independently of the Catholic Church. Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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Lawsuits The Catholic Church through the structure of the Vatican is equal to a political government, and a global corporation. All governments and corporations have secrets and dishonorable characters in the inner circles; why would the Church be any different? It’s the same as saying that the priests and nuns should exist only to please the Holy See’s wishes. Why should they vote, think, or take their share of responsibility in their own communities? The reality is they do, on all accounts. It is understandable that the church is guarded around its internal communications since the priests sexual abuse crisis exploded. The public’s perception is the Vatican moves at a glacier’s pace and is very insulated around the media in particular. This sends the message of “we do no react to vulgar events, we deal with them in our own way.” Is this a problem? Up to thirty years ago, maybe not. But today, this is a problem. The following statement is an example: Roughly a year into my stint as a Vatican correspondent, my newspaper, the National Catholic Reporter, broke a story regarding the sexual abuse of nuns, often by priests, in Africa and elsewhere. In some cases the priests looked to these nuns, who were often very young, as safe targets of sexual activity in the midst of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In at lease one case, a priest had actually arranged to abort the child he had fathered with a nun. The disclosures, as shocking as they were in the court of public opinion, were nothing new to the Vatican. In fact the story was based on five documents that had been submitted to the Vatican as early as 1994. We had been working on the story over a number of months and decided to go forward when I managed to obtain the fifth and final document from a Roman source. The story became a blockbuster, and pushed the Congregation for Religious, working in combination with the major umbrella groups for men’s and women’s religious communities, to take steps to be sure that religious women in Africa, especially in communities that depend entirely on the local bishop, are less vulnerable in the future. At no state in the reporting of this story did we have any official assistance from the Vatican. In fact, I provided the Vatican press office with a one-page summary of the story several days in advance of publication,
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seeking comment. There was no response until after we published, when the Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls indicated the Holy See was aware of what he called a “geographically limited” problem.14 This statement was by John L. Allen, Jr. who is the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and the Vatican analyst for CNN and National Public Radio. Joanquin Navarro-Valls’ response is an example of the Vatican responses to the public that are commonly found in media. Research showed that Joanquin Navrro-Valls further said, “A few negative situations cannot make one forget the often heroic faith of the great majority of monks, nuns and priests.” 15 This is a battle of perception for the Church. The media has plastered clergy mistakes, accusations, crimes, anything that casts public doubt in the Church. The media can be relentless and sometimes careless with information. However, the mounting reports of mistakes, accusations and crimes conducted by bishops/priests across the U.S. and the world cannot be ignored. The sex abuse scandals were a modern-day betrayal that catapulted the Catholic Church into heated debates across the globe in newsrooms and at dining tables. For me, the problems became compounded after reviewing a collection of headlines found in newspaper archives. In American public court, we maintain that one is innocent until proven guilty and the first objective is getting to the truth of the accusations. This is true. However, guilty or not, the damage was done. Trust was broken. The entire world was shocked and horrified when the sex abuse crisis erupted in Massachusetts in January 2002, then rippled throughout diocese in the United States. Within a short time, most Catholics around the world were aware that the Catholic Church in Canada, Australia, Latin America and Europe - including the late Pope John Paul’s own Poland - also faced similar scandals. Many American Catholics responded with statements such as the following: Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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“Cover ups and political games are expected and, unfortunately, accepted from Washington and politicians, but not from the Catholic Church. Blind faith no longer exists, and the Church hasn’t been able to answer the questions many younger Catholics need answered. Why be a Catholic? - M. Fortier “Gone is the warm and tolerant Church where I was nurtured. As the Church in the U.S. has taken on this neo-Calvinist twist, it has become little more than a front for the most reactionary and bigoted elements of the GOP. In doing so, the Church has left its people behind” – J. McNay. 16
The following headline and article samples are a collection of the Church’s attempted cover-ups and crimes. BUSINESS/FINANCIAL DESK
HOW TWO PRIESTS GOT MIXED UP IN A HUGE INSURANCE SCANDAL By ALESSANDRA STANLEY (NYT) 2004 words Published: June 26, 1999 ROME, June 25 - As priests, they make an unlikely pair. One is an affable, worldly American bon vivant who zooms around Rome on a raffish blue motorbike and defied his New York archbishop in the 1980's by running a trendy Manhattan restaurant to raise money for the poor. The other is an owlish Italian canon law scholar who serves as an emeritus judge on the Roman Rota, the court of appeals of the Holy See. NATIONAL DESK
MONEY SCANDAL IN FLORIDA DIOCESE ADDS TO CHURCH WOES By SAM DILLON (NYT) 1342 words Published: July 29, 2002 PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - After their last two bishops acknowledged sexual abuse and resigned, few Roman Catholics in the Diocese of Palm Beach imagined that things could get worse. But in recent weeks, public confidence has eroded further as church authorities have been forced to reveal that the same disgraced bishops kept secret the embezzlement of $400,000.
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METROPOLITAN DESK
NEW JERSEY PRIEST IS SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS FOR EMBEZZLEMENT By RONALD SMOTHERS (NYT) 626 words Published: June 3, 2006 FREEHOLD, N.J., June 2 - A 62-year-old priest was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $2 million from a church in the wealthy parish of Rumson. The thefts, over a seven-year period, went to finance a lavish lifestyle and to help once-wealthy parishioners who had fallen on hard times. METROPOLITAN DESK
OFFICIALS SAY MILLIONS EMBEZZLED FROM CATHOLIC CHURCH IN FOREST HILLS MAY NEVER BE TRACED By C. J. CHIVERS (NYT) 814 words Published: October 3, 2000 As a criminal investigation into financial irregularities at a large Roman Catholic church in Queens gained momentum, law enforcement officials said yesterday that some questions might never be answered, including precisely how much money was missing, where it had gone and how many people were culpable. METROPOLITAN DESK
PARISHES LACK LAY OVERSIGHT ON FINANCES By ANTHONY DEPALMA AND DANIEL J. WAKIN 1986 words Published: July 8, 2002 As a grand jury investigates the financial irregularities of one Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Brooklyn and church officials try to recover $1.8 million that was improperly spent by another, diocesan leaders acknowledge that as many as one out of five parishes lack the basic lay oversight of finances required by church law.
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METROPOLITAN DESK
PRIEST PLEADS GUILTY TO STEALING NEARLY $100,000 FROM QUEENS PARISH By ANTHONY DEPALMA (NYT) 921 words Published: September 18, 2002 A Roman Catholic priest from Queens who was accused of serious misdeeds by a parochial school principal pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing nearly $100,000 from his former parish to pay for a time share in Mexico, a luxury car and trips to a gay resort in Florida, among other personal expenses. NATIONAL DESK
SCANDALS IN THE CHURCH: THE MONEY; AS LAWSUITS SPREAD, CHURCH FACES QUESTIONS ON FINANCES By SAM DILLON AND LESLIE WAYNE (NYT) 3270 words Published: June 13, 2002 Correction Appended After spending the past six months fending off accusations that it covered up allegations of sexual abuse by priests, the American Roman Catholic church now faces a new wave of scrutiny about how its finances are handled, particularly because of the large and confidential settlements that diocese have reached with victims of that abuse. NATIONAL DESK
SUED BY PRIEST, BISHOP RESIGNS AND ADMITS TO SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP (Reuters) 610 words Published: July 24, 1999 SAN FRANCISCO, July 23 - A Roman Catholic bishop who resigned this week after being sued for alleged sexual abuse by a priest in his diocese has admitted that the two at one time had a ''personal, consensual relationship,'' a lawyer for the bishop said today. 17
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The following is a timeline from the BBC News archives that shows when the acts of sexual abuse by priests were first exposed on the American national scene in 1985. Research shows these issues go as far back as the 1950’s on various source records, such as the PBS News and CNN News.
TIMELINE OF U.S. CHURCH SEX SCANDELS 1984: Bernard Law is appointed archbishop of Boston, and elevated to cardinal a year later. 1985: Sex abuse by priests becomes a national issue in the US for the first time, as Louisiana priest Gilbert Gauthe pleads guilty to 11 counts of molestation of boys. 1992-3: The Reverend James Porter of Fall River diocese, Massachusetts, is accused of abusing children in five US states in the 1960s and 1970s. He later pleads guilty to 41 counts of abuse. 1992: US bishops meeting in South Bend, Indiana, admit attempts by some of their number to hide abuse. 1993: First legal proceedings brought against Dallas diocese over sex abuse by the priest Rudolph Kos. 13 July, 1998: Dallas diocese forced to pay more than $31m to victims of Kos. 1999: Former Massachusetts priest John Geoghan indicted on child rape charges. 8 January, 2002: Vatican publishes guidelines on how to deal with pedophile priests, saying all cases should be reported to Rome. 9 January 2002: Cardinal Law apologizes to victims of John Geoghan and promises a tougher line on abusive priests in future. 18 January 2002: Geoghan convicted of indecent assault and battery of a 10-yearold boy, for which he later receives a 10-year prison sentence. 4 April 2002: Two US men, in Florida and Oregon, begin legal action which symbolically names the Vatican for its alleged role in covering up sex abuse cases. 8 April 2002: File released on the Rev Paul Shanley, alleging he publicly advocated sex between men and boys and still received the backing of the archdiocese for his ministry. Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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23 April2002 : Pope John Paul II calls emergency meeting with US cardinals in Rome. 2 May 2002: Paul Shanley arrested in California and later charged on three counts of child rape. He denies the charges. 13 June 2002: US bishops approve "zero tolerance" national policy on abuse, but the Vatican demands changes to protect rights of priests. 17 September 2002: Boston Jesuit priest James Talbot charged with raping and assaulting three teenage students. 19 September 2002: The Boston Archdiocese reaches $10m settlement with victims of John Geoghan, retracting a previous settlement of $30m which the Church said would have bankrupted the archdiocese. 3 November 2002: Cardinal Law apologizes for "decisions which led to suffering." 13 November 2002: US bishops meet in Washington and approve revised policy on abusive priests which takes account of Vatican concerns. On the same day, Roman Catholic activists from the Survivors First group launch an online database listing 573 US priests accused of involvement in pedophilia since 1996, later dropping 100 of the names. 3 December 2002: New revelations about eight priests in Boston archdiocese accused of abusing women and girls, taking drugs and supplying drugs in return for sexual favors. 6 December 2002: Cardinal Law leaves for the Vatican, on the same day that he reportedly is ordered to appear before a grand jury investigating sex abuse allegations. 13 December 2002: Cardinal Law resigns as archbishop. April 2003: The Boston Archdiocese avoids bankruptcy by agreeing to sell land and buildings for over $100m to fund legal settlements to more than 500 abuse victims. 24 August 2003: John Geoghan is killed in a Massachusetts prison. 27 February 2004: A report commissioned by the Church says more than 4,000 US Roman Catholic priests had faced sexual abuse allegations in the last 50 years, in cases involving more than 10,000 children - mostly boys. Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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1 July 2004: The key accuser of defrocked priest Paul Shanley is dropped from the case by prosecutors. 7 July 2004: In an unprecedented move, the Portland Archdiocese files for bankruptcy because of the huge costs from clergy sex abuse lawsuits. The action halts a trial of a lawsuit seeking some $155m against the late Rev Maurice Grammond, who was accused of molesting more than 50 boys in the 1980s. 28 September 2004: Prosecutors drop a case against former Massachusetts bishop Thomas Dupre, hours after he is charged with raping two children in the 1970s. 15 November 2004: US Roman Catholic bishops elect Bishop William Skylstad as their new president. His Washington diocese faces bankruptcy due to the volume of compensation claims made by alleged victims of child abuse. 3 December 2004: After two years of talks, the diocese of Orange County, California, settles a sex abuse lawsuit brought by 87 plaintiffs for an unspecified sum. The diocese later says the package is worth $100m (£53m). 7 February 2005: A US court convicts Paul Shanley of four charges relating to offenses committed in the 1980s including rape and indecent assault. June 2005: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, California, agrees to pay $35m (£17m) to 33 victims. August 2005: The Diocese of Oakland, California, agrees to pay $56m (£27.5m) to 56 people. December 2006: The Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $60m (£30m) to settle to 45 cases of alleged sexual abuse by priests. January 2007: The Spokane diocese in the state of Washington agrees to pay at least $48m (£24.7m) as compensation to people abused by priests. July 2007: A lead plaintiff lawyer says the Los Angeles Archdiocese has reached a financial settlement with 500 alleged sex abuse victims. Unnamed sources put the figure at $660m (£324m), but the settlement is yet to be approved by a judge. 18 National Catholic Reporter (NCR) has been publishing online a continuous report called “Abuse Tracker.” (The NCR Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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was established in 1964, and was awarded the General Excellence Award from the Catholic Press Association) The material published in Abuse Tracker has new information on a daily basis from all over the world. The validity of all these cases that are growing at a rapid pace on a global level is hard to prove otherwise, particularly when the public sees the Church react with a passive slowness and appear to be disconnected from the situation (any sex abuse case). Eventually, it seems the Church settles in court. This opens the Church up to scam artists, hungry lawyers, news reporters, publishers, movie producers; anyone who can profit from these crimes will scamper to get to the front of the line. As of the year 2002, the American Catholic Church paid expenses of approximately $657,000,000 on settlements, legal fees and therapy for priests and victims.15 As of 2007, varying sources estimated that the Church has paid out over $1 billion in settlements in the U.S. The 2002 settlement figures were reported by the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People (NRBPC). This board, created by the USCCB, was assigned the responsibility of analyzing the crisis of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. NRBPC was made up of 12 men and women with professional backgrounds: lawyers, doctors, counselors and other professions. They worked in cooperation with John Jay College to develop a complete research and analysis of the Church crisis. Their findings and recommendations were published as downloadable PDFs (portable document formats) on almost every Catholic website viewed under research.
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Understanding Pedophilia While researching, newspaper headlines had repeatedly used the term “sexual molestation of boys by priest,” as well as the term “pedophilia.” One of the most noteworthy research materials found was a film documentary called “Deliver Us From Evil,” by Amy Berg (journalist for CBS and CNN Investigations). This story was on Oliver O’Grady who was the most notorious pedophile Catholic priest in the U.S. To look at him and to hear him talk, one would never suspect that this man was abnormal and was a danger to children. He is a pedophile and is not reported to be gay. Oliver O’Grady was allowed to create a path of desecration across northern California under the awareness of the Catholic Church for over twenty years. (As to why Mr. O’Grady was allowed to be in action for twenty years, the Vatican was not available for comment to the producers nor the victims families shown on this documentary). Berg anchors her film with priests representing the best and the worst of the Church: On the one side, Father O'Grady, who molested and raped hundreds of children throughout his career as a priest (the youngest was a nine-month old infant) and on the other, Father Thomas Doyle, expert on canon law. The latter is a tireless champion for the rights of the victims of clergy abuse, and staunch advocate of the need for the Catholic Church to openly admit there is a problem, cease hiding the truth behind veils of lawyers and lies, and find a way to stop the abuse from happening to begin with. ...Imagine being a child in the hands of the man you believe to be connected to God himself, who, you are taught, is always watching, always knowing -- and that man raping you repeatedly within your own home, from the time you were five years old until you were 12. Ann Jyono, whose parents, Bob and Maria, were close friends with O'Grady for 23 years, let him stay at their home regularly overnight, never suspecting what he was doing to their daughter after they went to bed. She didn't tell until just a few years ago, when O'Grady was finally charged for his crimes. Watching Ann's father utterly break down while talking about what Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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O'Grady did to his daughter -- raped her, he emphasizes through choked-back sobs, not molested, but raped a five-year-old girl -- is utterly devastating.19 Those reading the above who are heterosexual are probably feeling a sense of outrage, while members of the homosexual orientation, will not accept being compared with such an atrocity. A Homophobe will not take the time to understand the difference. To understand pedophilia, I asked lifelong friend and associate, Vivian Ferrara-Machado, M.A., L.C.P.C., who is licensed clinical professional counselor in mental health. Vivian explained that pedophilia in basic terms is a character disorder in adults, where the adult perception is “off.� For example, if a child smiles at you or me, we think nothing other than the child is happy for what ever reason. If there were a pedophile in the same room with us and the child, his perception of that same child smiling at him, would be that the child is sexually attracted to him. His perception is distorted. The following is the clinical definition from the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. This is the authority in mental health professionals use: Most adults who sexually molest children are considered to have pedophilia, a mental disorder described in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). An adult who engages in sexual activity with a child is performing a criminal and immoral act that never can be considered normal or socially acceptable behavior. Pedophilia is categorized in the DSM-IV as one of several paraphiliac mental disorders. The essential features of a paraphilia (sexual deviation) are recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges or behaviors that generally involve nonhuman subjects, the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partner, or children or other nonconsenting persons. Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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The Characteristics of Pedophilia According to the DSM-IV definition, pedophilia involves sexual activity by an adult with a prepubescent child. Some individuals prefer females, usually 8- to 10year-olds. Those attracted to males usually prefers slightly older children. Some prefer both sexes. While some are sexually attracted only to children, others also are sometimes attracted to adults. There is little information on the number of individuals in the general population with pedophilia because individuals with the disorder rarely seek help from a psychiatrist or other mental health professional. However, the large commercial market in pedophiliac pornography suggests that the number of individuals at large in the community with the disorder is likely to be higher than the limited medical data indicate. Individuals generally come to the attention of mental health professionals when their child victims tell others and when they are arrested. Pedophilia is almost always seen in males and is seldom diagnosed in females. Treatment for Pedophilia Pedophilia generally is treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy. The therapy may be prescribed alone or in combination with medication. Some examples of medications that have been used include anti-androgens and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (commonly called SSRIs). But unlike the successful treatment outcomes for most other mental illnesses, the outlook for successful treatment and rehabilitation of individuals with pedophilia is guarded. Even after intensive treatment, the course of the disorder usually is chronic and lifelong in most patients, according to the DSM-IV, which is the reason that most treatment programs emphasize a relapse-prevention model. However, both the fantasies and the behaviors often lessen with advancing age in adults. 20 The following are first-hand statements on definition of pedophilia from other psychologist: The biggest misunderstanding many people have is that pedophilia and homosexuality are one and the same. But to say that all homosexuals are pedophiles, or that all pedophiles are homosexual, is like comparing apples to rat poison. They certainly are two distinct things.21 — James Hord, a psychologist in Panama City, FL., who specializes in treating sexually abused children. Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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Hord explained that while some pedophiles may prefer boys over girls, or vice versa, it's not so much about gender as it is about age. Hord stated, “For homosexuals, sexual preference is simply not linked to the age. If a man, for instance, is attracted to other adult males, he is a homosexual. A man who is sexually attracted to male children is not considered a homosexual: He is a pedophile.� Pedophiles are attracted to prepubescent children and act on their sexual fantasies. It is a startling fact that the etiology of this paraphilia is unknown. Pedophiles comes from all walks of life and have no common socio-economic background. Contrary to media-propagated myths, most of them had not been sexually abused in childhood and the vast majority of pedophiles are also drawn to adults of the opposite sex (are heterosexuals). 22 — Dr. Sam Vaknin, author of The Roots of Pedophilia By the actions that the Catholic Church took in dealing with pedophile priests, clearly they did not understand two accounts: 1) This disorder can be maintained with extensive treatment, but the disorder is lifelong and the patient should not be put into temptation around children. Temporary treatments and the movement of multiple pedophile priests from parish to parish indicates lack of understanding and communication. 2) Pedophilia and homosexuality are two different things: pedophilia is a adult mental disorder, and homosexuality is a consenting adult sexual preference. Recently, the USCCB made statements on banning homosexuals from entering the priesthood, in suggesting that homosexual priests were the cause of the pedophile problems. The Catholic Church has also launched attacks on members of its own network in order to dissociate from homosexuals.
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Church Consequences on Homosexual Condemnation “Who cares about the gays? They make my skin crawl.” Statements like these illustrate ignorance at its best. This is equal to saying “Who cares about the blacks? They are not suitable to drink from the same water fountain as we do!” Or “What do women know? Why should they have the right to vote!” I hope that within my lifetime, gay lifestyles will no longer be repressed. Homophobes, bigots and chauvinists should really be extinct by now, but unfortunately are not. This type of ignorance is shown in the case when Catholic Charities defied the Catholic Church on this subject. The Church ordered Catholic Charities to abolish applications from same sex marriages wanting to adopt orphaned children.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES BOARD MEMBERS RESIGN IN PROTEST March 1, 2006 (AP) BOSTON Seven members of the Catholic Charities Board resigned Wednesday to protest the Massachusetts Roman Catholic bishops' request that Catholic social service agencies be exempted from a law requiring them to place some adoptive children in gay households. In a statement, the seven board members said they were "deeply troubled" by the bishops' request, and said it "undermines our moral priority of helping vulnerable children find loving homes. "We also cannot participate in an effort to pursue legal permission to discriminate against Massachusetts citizens who want to play a part in building strong families. The course the Bishops have charted threatens the very essence of our Christian mission. For the sake of the poor we serve, we pray they will reconsider." The Vatican has said gay adoptions are "gravely immoral." On Tuesday, the state's four bishops said state law compromised their religious freedom by requiring them Chapter Five Problems for the Catholic Church
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to consider gays as adoptive parents. "Because of the Church's teaching, Catholic agencies may not provide adoptions to same sex couples," the bishops' statement said. "Hence we intend to seek relief from the regulatory requirements of the Commonwealth on this issue." In the past two decades, 13 of the 720 children placed with adoptive families by Catholic Charities have been placed in same-sex households. Geri Denterlein, one of the board members who resigned, said she supports gay marriage, but her resignation wasn't meant as a political statement. She pointed to a unanimous vote by the 42-member board in December to continue placing children in gay households. The bishops' decision undermines Catholic Charities and eliminates same-sex couples from consideration, even if they're the best choice, Denterlein said. "I simply didn't feel I could continue to serve as board member when we were at such odds with the way the hierarchy was approaching adoption policy," she said. Besides Denterlein, president of Denterlein Worldwide Public Affairs, the statement was signed by Donna Gittens, chief executive officer, causemedia; Paul LaCamera, general manager, the WBUR group; Brian Leary, partner, Gadsby Hannah; Peter Meade, executive vice president, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Colette Phillips, president and CEO, Colette Phillips Communications; Micho Spring, chairman, Weber Shandwick New England. Jeff Kaneb, chairman of the Catholic Charities Board, and the Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, Catholic Charities president, released a statement saying they were "saddened" that board members felt compelled to step down. "To lose even one of these individuals would be a severe loss to our Catholic Charities agency," the statement said. "These men and women have for many years provided Catholic Charities generously with personal commitment, professional skills and expenditure of time and financial resources." Edward Saunders of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the church's public policy arm, said he had no comment on the resignations.
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The agency has occasionally run up against the church hierarchy during the past few years. Last year, Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley declined to attend the Catholic Charities Christmas fundraising dinner because it honored Mayor Thomas Menino, who supports abortion and gay marriage.23 The Knights of Columbus is another group within the Catholic network that also has tremendous integrity and a large following. They, too, have stood their ground against targeting homosexuals. A group called the “California-based Concerned Catholics” (CRCOA), wanted the Knights to remove sixteen members, Massachusetts lawmakers who support gay marriage and pro-rights. The sixteen knights/lawmakers targeted were: Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, Rep. John Rogers, Rep. Garrett Bradley, Rep. Robert DeLeo, Rep.Stephen DiNatale, Rep. Chris Doneland, Rep.Chris Fallon, Rep. Kevin Honan, Rep. Paul McMurtry, Rep. Charles Murphy, Rep Bob Nyman, Rep. Angelo Puppolo, Rep. Bob Spellane, Sen. Michael Knapik, Sen. Thomas McGee, and Sen. Michael Morrissey.
KNIGHTS UNDER FIRE MASSACHUSETTS KNIGHTS REFUSE CALL TO OUST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE SUPPORTERS
August 11, 2007 State Representative & Knight, Robert DeLeo said, “I certainly respect the right of those who disagree with my vote on same-sex marriage to do so and to advocate for their point of view. It is my hope that they would also respect my right and responsibility as an elected official to, after listening to all the facts and arguments, decide what I think is best course of action on issues before the Legislature.” State Representative & Knight, Garrett Bradley said, “We (Knights) don’t agree on every issue, and this is one of them. I’m going to vote the way I think is right, regardless of what this group or another group might want me to do.” The CRCOA lists names of seventy-two pro-abortion Catholics in congress, including Senitors Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry, and State Representatives Michael Capuano, William
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Delahunt, Richard Neal, Edward Markey and James McGovern.24 There is clear division among members of the Catholic network with regards to same sex marriage. This was anticipated a few years ago. There are more debates and campaigns expected on this subject in the future.
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FOOTNOTES: 1 Christianity – A History 1 The Official Catholic Directory 2007, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, New Providence, NJ. 2006 (http://www.usccb.org/comm/statisti.shtml) 2 Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2004; population estimated as of June 30, 2002. (http://www.usccb.org/comm/statisti.shtml) 3 Selected and updated from Catholicism USA and other CARA data© 2001 by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057 4Ibid 4 http://americasbesthistory.home.att.net/abhtimeline1970.html 5 http://cara.georgetown.edu/serv/index.htm 6 Downes, Larry & Mui, Chunka. Unleashing the Killer App., www.killerapps.com/contents/booktour/the_law_of_disruption_or_secon dorder_effects.htm 7 Ibid 8 Ibid 9 Ibid 10 Public Inquiries Unit, Fact Sheet #6, October 2000, Department of Public Information, United Nations. 11 Ibid
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12 Ibid 13 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/vatican_10_18_02.html 14 Allen, John L. Jr., All the Pope’s Men, Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., July 2004. page 72. 15 Gison, David., The Coming Catholic Church., HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York, NY 2004. page 257 16 “Catholic Church Has Lost Its Direction,” Letters. USA Today Nov. 2004: 13A. 17 New York web archives 18 BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr//2/hi/americas/3872499.stm., Published: 2007/07/15 09:54:06 GMT 19 “Deliver Us From Evil” Posted Oct 13th 2006 11:09AM by Kim Voynar. Filed under: Documentary, Lionsgate Films, Theatrical Reviews, Toronto International Film Festival 20 American Psychiatric Association., Medical Library, 1997 21 WebMD, Explaining Pedophillia, reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD, November 2007 22 Vakin, Sam. MD. Malignant Self Love - The Roots of Pedophilia. www.narcissisticabuse-owner@yahoogroups.com 23 CBS News Boston Television Broadcast www.cbs.com.... 24 Wedge, Dave and Ross, Casey., Knights Under Fire, Boston Herald newspaper, August 11, 2007, page 5.
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Within the United States during the 21st century, what part, if any, does advertising design play in the role of communications for the American Catholic Church? It is not obvious, but advertising and marketing are used to communicate some of the Church views. It’s used directly by the USCCB and indirectly by the Catholic network. Over the last two thousand years, this religion has evolved into one of the most successful organizations the world has seen so far.
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The Catholic Church’s primary objective is moral guidance, and within the U.S., the Church, in collaboration with its network, has produced many effective communication campaigns that represent this religion’s disciplines. Technical execution of the campaigns is as diverse as the American audiences, but the messages in these campaigns shown remain constant. The Church’s moral messages are: not to kill and to protect life, to practice abstinence, and to be kind to your neighbor. The results of these campaigns, as shown in Chapters Two, Moral Campaigns, and Chapter Four, Self Promotions and Fundraising, were overall effective. The American Catholic Church’s political activity is understandable to a degree. Research has shown that the Church is an incredibly good strategist. The USCCB and various associates in its network used varying means of advertising to try to influence Catholic voters during the last presidential election. The Church seeks and supports those who have power and influence, and are aligned with Church views. This makes perfect sense, and most organizations and individuals follow suit. The duplicitous part is, the Church exercises a more passive form of excommunication on Catholic law makers who are not aligned with church views. For example, Pope Benedict instructed the American bishops during the 2004 presidential campaign that it was wrong to grant communion to a Catholic — like John Kerry — who supports abortion rights. Excommunication means to
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officially bar someone from the sacraments and services of the Church. This was a very effective threat before the modern age, and kept many silent. However, if the Catholic Church practiced what it preaches, this would not be such a massive contradiction: to single out law makers, like John Kerry and refusing him communion because he supports abortion, yet have clergy committing crimes and breaking vows left, right and center. And, due to the digital revolution, the American Catholic Church is on unstable ground and risks uncontrollable change that will not be beneficial. In the start of this study, a main question was “How is the Catholic Church handling this period of rapidly-changing technology and subsequent changes in human attitudes?” This is one of several major concerns for its future survival. The research material in this communication study shows the Church is slow to change literally, socially, psychologically, technically and communicatively. The Church’s subjective approach to problem-solving their sex scandals has them at a stalemate. From a communications standpoint, it appears that the church is literally blocked from moving forward and is simply resistant to change. This has a cause and effect on the last question posed in Chapter One: “With the emergence of the recent priest pedophile scandals, how is the Church communicating to the public its role of leadership during this crisis?” For some years now, I had suspected that the Church was not doing well on this subject. When I first heard about the priest sex scandals, my reaction was similar to most - disgust but I went on with my busy life. At first, I was resistant to the challenge that my thesis advisor, John Phillip Jones; put forth to me in 2005: to add the problems chapter to this thesis. I came to realize that, without this section it would not be a complete communication study. I had no idea of the extent of damage that has been done to so many, for so long.
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Researching and collecting newspaper articles, books, documentaries, and interviews over the last five years was just the tip of the iceberg. The Church’s lack of communication and avoidance of truth around the sex crisis has had irreversible damage. There are two guilty profiles to highlight: the pedophiles and rapist priests, and the authorities that let them get away with their crimes. It is doubtful that time could tell us if the amount of good outweighs the amount of harm done by the Catholic Church. Monetary apologies and protocols on truth are not going to diffuse this mounting evidence of disorder. This is not a church crisis, this is a healing crisis. The sex scandals reveal the consequences of the authoritarian doctrines on human sexuality, promoted by the Catholic Church throughout its history, which seek to prevent sexual activity except as a way to procreate within marriage. Clergy abstinence is claimed as a “shield” specifically for men, to maintain focus in spirituality. Infinite desecration has been caused by these disciplines, particularly to women, children, lesbians and gays. I believe the Church authorities’ demonstration of lackadaisical responses around abusive priests combined with the internal conflicts that are building within the clergy and the network shown in Chapter Six, will eventual tear apart its foundation - the parish. The infuriating part is, I know there are noble clergy within the American Church, and they are suffering. The case studies and personal interviews show they are still the pulse for their faith. Unfortunately, the numerous newspaper headlines, books, and movies that are shown in the previous chapters, indicate that the problems in the American Church is more than a few pedophilia cases. The corruption revealed within the Church echoed guilt of four major vices that are a repeating pattern in Church history, and are now at a modern peak: lust, greed, ego and attachment. Chapter Six Conclusion
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While the American Catholic faith will remain fixed in Jesus Christ, their faith in the Catholic Church itself is challenged. The Roman Catholic Church’s continued disconnect from cultural change and its positioning as a patriarchal and authoritarian society will continue to dispel large numbers of future generations of American Catholics, who are liberal, educated and conscious people. My wish for the American Catholic Church is, that those clergy who are guilty of corruption, manipulation, seduction of power, avoidance of truth, lack of responsibility, oppression of the reputable clergy and lastly, those who suffer from pedophilia, will be replaced by clergy who are true to the divine, are open-minded, and have no self-serving agenda, basically, leading the church to rekindle the spirit of the early Christians practicing their spiritual faith. With change, it is my hope that this ancient and sacred entity that has impacted so many lives is able to thrive in the 21st century with its original intentions set by its founder.
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VITA Name of Author: Arlene M. O’Reilly Place of Birth: Thousand Oaks, CA Date of Birth: September 8, 1963 Undergraduate Schools Attended: St. John’s University, New York, New York School of Visual Arts, New York, New York Parson’s School of Design, New York, New York Degrees Award: Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1989, St. John’s University Awards and Honors: Graduated with honors, St. John’s University, 1989 Bronze Award of Excellence in Design & Printing, Pyramid Awards, 1997 Silver Award of Excellence in Design & Printing, Pyramid Awards, 1998 Silver Award of Excellence in Design & Printing, Pyramid Awards, 1999 Gold Award of Excellence in Design & Printing, Pyramid Awards, 2001 Gold Award of Excellence in Design & Printing, Pyramid Awards, 2002 Professional Experience: Owner and Creative Director, Mind’s Eye Productions, established 1993 Owner and Publisher Arts: Nantucket, established 2000
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