{A Catholic international service group says accusations that it acted improperly in a children\u2019s sex education program in Rwanda are without merit and based on misunderstandings and false claims.}<\/p>\n
Catholic Relief Services acknowledged in a statement that its staff had \u201cconducted research\u201d with other groups in a sex education program called My Changing Body.<\/p>\n
However, Catholic Relief Services said, it did not collaborate with Planned Parenthood, did not promote or \u201cnormalize\u201d homosexuality or masturbation for teens and did not promote or encourage use of birth control.<\/p>\n
\u201cCRS works faithfully to adhere to Church teaching in everything we do,\u201d said a statement provided by Paul Eagle, director of communications for Catholic Relief Services.<\/p>\n
The relief agency has served for decades under the leadership of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.<\/p>\n
Last month, the Lepanto Institute, a new think tank led by Michael Hichborn, issued a report saying that, based on a 2011 document, Catholic Relief Services was involved in implementing a \u201cgraphic sexuality education program\u201d with Rwandan children ages 10 to 14.<\/p>\n
The curriculum for My Changing Body: Puberty and Fertility Awareness for Young People is \u201ccompletely incompatible with Catholic moral teaching\u201d on such things as masturbation, condom use and contraception, Mr. Hichborn wrote. \u201cThere is no justification for a Catholic organization to have had anything to do with this program as written, let alone actually implement it and test it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lepanto report said Georgetown University Institute for Reproductive Health paid Catholic Relief Services and Caritas, which operates out of dioceses in Rwanda, to implement the program with these \u201cvery young adolescents\u201d in 2009 and 2010.<\/p>\n
Catholic Relief Services said its investigation, which included reviewing documents and interviewing staff involved with the project in Rwanda, showed \u201cthere is no evidence\u201d that the objectionable passages \u201cwere ever used in conjunction with CRS\u2018 activities in Rwanda.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, \u201cthere were collaborative efforts among CRS, Georgetown, diocesan facilitators and priests to adapt \u2018My Changing Body\u2019 to conform to Catholic teaching,\u201d Catholic Relief Services said.<\/p>\n
Catholic Relief Services\u2018 own sex education program, Avoiding Risk, Affirming Life, \u201cspread the message throughout Rwanda that abstinence and fidelity were the best and only sure methods of stemming the spread of HIV,\u201d Catholic Relief Services said. The program, it said, ran from 2005 to 2010 and was carried out with Caritas Rwanda.<\/p>\n
Thus, the claims made by the Lepanto Institute about Catholic Relief Services\u2018 work in Rwanda are unfounded, the agency said, adding that it did not ask to be acknowledged in the 2011 report.<\/p>\n
Mr. Hichborn issued a response Monday that posed several more detailed questions, such as what happened to the \u201cadapted\u201d version of the curriculum.<\/p>\n
Separately, Catholic Relief Services rebuffed earlier criticisms about its activities from groups such as American Life League, where Mr. Hichborn served for eight years.<\/p>\n
In 2013, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Catholic Relief Services does not distribute contraception, upholds pro-life teachings in its work and uses a \u201ccareful vetting system\u201d to make sure its activities and partnerships with other groups or governments do not violate Catholic teaching.<\/p>\n
{{Source: Washington Times}}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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