Reverend Robert Sirico, a Catholic Priest, is the founder of the Lord Acton Institute; an organization dedicated to teaching free market principles to clergy. The clergy he had encountered most of his life were largely socialist and ignorant of capitalism.

I had the good fortune to meet Reverend Sirico years ago at a YPO (Young President’s Organization) meeting in San Diego, sat with him and Walter Williams at a scotch tasting. It was a memorable evening, at least for me. He did a great impression of Charles Rangel.

Reverend Sirico has opposed government funding of faith based organizations under Bush and remains consistent in his opposition responding to Obama’s faith based proposal with this article in the National Review.

an excerpt:

Note the implied assumption that if government is not funding something, it is not being done — that if politicians and bureaucrats are not involved, all hands are not on deck. Contrary to what both Bush and Obama seem to believe, it is possible to have hands on deck using primarily private money. Just because taxpayers aren’t paying the bill doesn’t mean it is not happening and it is not making a difference. Why do politicians turn to religious charities in the first place? Because they know we have a secret in caring for the poor — our faith. And only dilution and compromise comes to the faith when it gets entangled with politics.

More blame, then, goes to the Republicans who should have known better — which is precisely what I have said to this administration from its inception. They tend to have more economic understanding and a broader knowledge of the dangers associated with making institutions dependent on government financing. Had Bush not worked so hard for this program, it wouldn’t already be established in a way that permits any future Democrat administration to take it over and use it for its own purposes.Surely there is a lesson here both for charities and politics. Charities need to stay away from politics if they want to maintain their institutional integrity and do their job in a way that is consistent with their ideals. The long-term interests of a charitable institution are best served by an independent and private source of financial support, even if it takes longer to develop than one that comes from the taxpayers.

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