USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - New Members Named For Catholic Campaign for Human Development Committee, Which Will Meet June 15

New Members Named For Catholic Campaign for Human Development Committee, Which Will Meet June 15

WASHINGTON, DC (June 13, 2005) -- Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), has named six other bishops and five consultants to serve with him on the CCHD Committee. The new committee will meet in Chicago June 15.

Bishop Hubbard was elected to a three-year term as CCHD committee chairman by the U.S. bishops during their general meeting in November 2003. During 2004 he served as the CCHD committee's chairman-elect.

"I believe that the Campaign is one of the greatest accomplishments of the Church in the United States," Bishop Hubbard said. "We, as a faith community, can be very proud of the practical and effective way the Catholic Campaign for Human Development enables us to fulfill the Gospel mandate to respond to the needs of the least among us. We must combat poverty within our own country and I thank the new committee members for joining me in this effort."

The six newly-appointed committee members who will serve a three-year term are: Bishop Francis J. Kane, auxiliary bishop of Chicago; Bishop Roger P. Morin, auxiliary bishop of New Orleans; Bishop Joseph A. Pepe of Las Vegas; Bishop J. Terry Steib, SVD, of Memphis; Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, auxiliary bishop of New York; and Bishop Gabino Zavala, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles. Bishop Pepe and Bishop Steib are returning to the committee for a second term.

The CCHD Committee has the overall responsibility for CCHD's activities, including setting policy and making final funding decisions. The chairman appoints the other Episcopal members and may name clergy, religious, and laity as consultants to the committee.

New consultants named to the committee by Bishop Hubbard are Sr. Monica Kostielney, RSM, President of the Michigan Catholic Conference, and Rev. Robert J. Silva, President of the National Federation of Priests Councils. Consultants who will continue to serve on the CCHD committee include Mr. Daniel Curtin, Executive Director of CACE at the National Catholic Educational Association; Sister Annette M. McDermott, SSJ, of Waban, Mass.; and Ms. Kerry Robinson, Director of Development, Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale University, New Haven, Conn. In addition, Brian Stevens of the Archdiocese of Miami, has observer status on the committee for one year as a result of his chairmanship of the CCHD Advisory Committee that assists the USCCB Committee with its grant review.

The immediate past CCHD committee chairman is Bishop George V. Murry, SJ, of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Established in 1970 by the U.S. Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is one of the largest private funders of self-help programs initiated and led by poor people in the United States. During this current year, the Campaign is supporting 330 local projects in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Committed to the permanent elimination of poverty and injustice in the U.S., CCHD has supported more than 4,000 programs nationwide that know no racial or religious boundaries - projects that help create jobs, improve neighborhoods and allow people to find a way out of poverty not just for a day, but a lifetime. This year CCHD celebrates its 35th anniversary.

More information about CCHD can be found at its websites: www.usccb.org/cchd or www.povertyusa.org

Editors: For additional information, or a photo of Bishop Hubbard, contact Barbara Stephenson, CCHD, (202) 541-3364, bstephenson@usccb.org.