Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, released a statement yesterday with the evidence (tax records) showing Catholics in Alliance is funded by leftwing billionaire George Soros .

The same tax records list Catholics United as an "affiliate" of Catholics in Alliance. It is not clear whether Catholics United received Soros funds through its affliliation with Catholics in Alliance.

Soros, who is well-known for his animosity toward the Catholic Church, is the founder of MoveOn.org. Soros, as Donohue notes, is also a donor to Catholics for Choice.

Donohue provides this example of how Soros views Catholics:

“In 2003, after left-wing mogul George Soros blamed Jews for anti-Semitism, the ADL branded his comments ‘obscene.’ Two years later, I accused him of anti-Catholicism when his group, MoveOn.org, posted a picture of a smiling Pope Benedict XVI holding a gavel outside the U.S. Supreme Court, along with the following inscription: ‘God Already Has a Job…He does not need one on the Supreme Court.’

The head of another Soros-funded organization, a former chief-of-staff to President Clinton, is on the record for his ties to both organizations, Catholics in Alliance and Catholics United:

John Podesta, who runs the Soros-funded organization, Center for American Progress, admits that he works closely with Catholics in Alliance and Catholics United. The Center for American Progress is also the sponsor of Faith and Public Life.

The question Donohue raises is the obvious one: Why would Soros want to fund the "non-partisan" Catholics in Alliance and Catholics United?

“The reason Soros funds the Catholic Left is the same reason he lavishly funds Catholics for Choice, the pro-abortion group that has twice been condemned as a fraud by Catholic bishops: they all service his agenda, namely, to make support for abortion rights a respectable Catholic position.

If you can make support for abortion respectable among Catholics then you can vote for Obama/Biden without a twinge of -- shall I say it -- conscience.

When Archbishop Chaput said Catholics in Alliance and Catholics United are doing a "disservice" to the Catholic Church he did not know about the Soros funding. As Donohue adds, "And now we know what really makes them tick.”

The Catholic News Agency article on the Soros funding contains additional information on the close ties between Catholics in Alliance and Catholics United and the Democratic Party.

These ties have long been noted on InsideCatholic.com, but the media has played along for months with the myth of non-partisanship.

Perhaps now the media will call Catholics in Alliance and Catholics United what they are: Organizations bought and paid for by the far-left to bury the abortion issue under an agenda favorable to the Democratic Party.

Chris Korzen, president of Catholics United, released the following statement to Catholic News Agency: “Catholics United has no connection with Mr. Soros. We have taken money from neither him nor OSI.”

I am not aware of any statement from Alexia Kelly, president of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, in response to Donohue's evidence of support from George Soros. Since the donations are clearly recorded on the 990s of Catholics in Alliance, it would be useless for her to deny it.

UPDATE: We received this message from Chris Korzen this morning in response to my post:

"Gentlemen - this is just plain silly. We don't take any money from OSI but I would have absolutely no problem doing so... the organization that's doing some great work. Let's get back to the issues, please."

Chris


Chris Korzen
Executive Director
Catholics United