Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-10-10
Charity and Relation


According to an Associated
Press story from Lorain, Ohio.
appearing in The Star, October
/, Roman Catholic priests were
advising their parishioners
against contributing to the
United Appeal charity fund
campaign. They explained
that the church objected to the
inclusion in the Community
Chest budget funds for build
ings which the Young
Women'S Christian Association
and the Salvation Army would
use for religious purposes. The
priests said that contributing
to the Community Chest
budget. which includes items
for these purposes, would be
to recognize these forms of re-
ligion. which is a serious vio-
lation of the Catholic faith.
This raises anew the funda-
mental question of whether
church-related agencies should
participate in community
wide fund appeals. The OBJ
lection to their participation
is based on one of the funda-
mental principles upon which
America was built: The right
of each individual to be free
to support the faith of his
choice or none at all. It was
for this freedom that many of
the first settlers left the Old
Country with its state churches
supported in whole OF in part
by taxation. To correct the
evils of state-church systems,
the founders of this great
Government firmly established
freedom of religious worship
when they wrote into the Bill
of Rights that no law should
be enacted respecting the
establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise
thereof. 1t is true that the
United Givers Fund is not
Government agency and there
is no law that compels any
individual to contribute. How
ever, the inclusion of church,
related agencies in the budget
compelS the individual who
gives to support the extension
of religious faiths other than
his own. In this sense the true
spirit of religious liberty is
violated.
1t is also true that an in
dividual may designate agen-
cies to receive his contributions
to the exclusion of all other
agencies. Yet. because of
budgetary mechanics, a desig-
mated gift will result in a pro-
portion of undesignated gifts
being shifted to other agencies.
Thus each contributor, whether
he designates his gift or not,
in effect. will be supporting
each and every agency in
cluded in the fund.
A solution would be to ex-
clude from the UGF any
agency which engages in re-
ligious activity or any agency
whose name indicates that a
particular faith or religion is
responsible for the service pro-
grams rendered by the agency.
This is not to impugn the good
motives or the good work per-
formed by these church-related
agencies. They do good work
and probably should be con-
tinued, but If the religious
groups operating these services
claim credit for their good
work. they should also claim
the burdens of financial re-
Sponsibility
Let's everyone support his
own faith independently and
reserve COMMUNICATIVE cam
paignS for COMMUNICATIVE
projects and not for the adj
vancement OF sectarian views.
Kenneth +. Peery.
Certain members Of the
Catholic hierarchy in Lorain.
Ohio. have advised their
parishioners not TO contribute
to the United Charity fund
because this fund supports
groups with whose religious
teachings they disagreed. They
assume that the Salvation
Army and the YWcA viii
promote their own religious
views, and that whatever use
is made OF the funds they re-
ceive. it will surely aid in such
promotion know that some
people will feel that these
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