"A group of 50 Catholic leaders are criticizing the president of the Catholic University of America (CUA) for accepting a $1 million donation from a foundation controlled by Charles Koch, arguing that his ideological agenda is not in line with Catholic theology.
The money will be used to support the University's business school and underwrite the hiring of three visiting scholars and a "visiting scholar-practitioner from the business world." Charles, along with his brother David, run Koch Industries and fund a wide array of front-groups and lobbying efforts to expand their anti-tax, anti-regulatory agenda.
"The Koch brothers are billionaire industrialists who fund organizations that advance public policies that directly contradict Catholic teaching on a range of moral issues from economic justice to environmental stewardship," the group of priests, social justice advocates, theologians and other academics write. They point to Pope Francis' strong condemnation of trickle-down economics and the importance of business serving the common good:
As you well know, Catholic social teaching articulates a positive role for government, an indispensable role for unions, just tax policies, and the need for prudent regulation of financial markets in service of the common good. We are concerned that by accepting such a donation you send a confusing message to Catholic students and other faithful Catholics that the Koch brothers' anti- government, Tea Party ideology has the blessing of a university sanctioned by Catholic bishops.
While the Koch brothers lobby for sweeping deregulation of industries and markets, Pope Francis has criticized trickle-down economic theories, and insists on the need for stronger oversight of global financial markets to protect workers from what he calls "the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal.""
rest at http://thinkprogress.org/home/2013/12/16/3071691/catholic-leaders-shame-catholic-university-accepting-koch-dollars-brothers-contradict-catholic-teaching-range-moral-issues/
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