Ohio Bishops on Fundraising for Susan G. Komen for the Cure

• The direction given to Toledo diocesan Catholic institutions by Bishop Blair to channel their fundraising efforts to Mercy Cancer Centers, rather than Komen for the Cure (Komen) was the result of a collective decision made by all the bishops of Ohio. This includes the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the Dioceses of Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Steubenville and Youngstown. Earlier this year Archbishop Schnurr of Cincinnati took similar action to Bishop Blair's. For a statement from the Ohio Catholic Conference on this matter click here.
  
• The Ohio Bishops have not condemned or censured the work of Komen for the Cure Foundation. In their dioceses bishops are often asked whether Komen should be supported given that there have been some links with Planned Parenthood (the largest abortion provider in the country) and its openness to embryonic stem cell research. For more information on Church teaching about the immorality of embryonic stem cell research, click here.  In their collective decision the Bishops did not exclude the possibility that Individual Catholics who want to contribute to Komen locally may continue to do so with Komen's assurance that no local funds go to Planned Parenthood or to embryonic stem cell research. However, when funds are raised by schools or parishes (and therefore in the name of the Catholic Church and all her members) then the Bishops felt the need to maintain some distance from Komen, given that a number of Catholics, in good faith, continue to have misgivings about Komen's links with Planned Parenthood and its admitted openness to embryonic stem cell research. This institutional concern is the reason that Bishop Blair's letter was directed to diocesan schools and parishes, and not the Catholic people as a whole.
• In arriving at their decision the Ohio bishops had the benefit of consultation from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the Diocese of Cleveland's meetings with their local affiliates of Komen. The Bishops were well aware of Komen's position and the particulars regarding what local Komen affiliates support or do not support. A meeting between Bishop Blair and the Komen for the Cure NW Ohio affiliate will take place in the very near future.
• Komen is not the only organization in the fight against breast cancer. The Bishops are simply looking for other valid ways to help in this fight without the burden of the moral questions associated with Komen. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati is having its agencies direct their contributions to two national organizations that provide breast care services and education whose policies are fully consistent with Catholic moral teaching. In Toledo Bishop Blair has directed that funds go to the local Mercy Cancer Centers.
• Bishop Blair acknowledges in his letter that "few of us remain untouched by the scourge of breast cancer...there are a great many women in our country who confront this disease with tremendous faith and courage." The Bishop's own late mother suffered from breast cancer. To disparage his care and concern for any victim of cancer is unwarranted and unkind.
  
  July 20, 2011