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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Cella Sells OutWashington, DC – Catholics United is calling on Joseph Cella, currently on leave as president of the Catholic organization Fidelis, to explain his recent decision to accept a high-level faith outreach position in former Senator Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign. Notorious for excoriating Democratic candidates over their positions on abortion, Mr. Cella is now a paid consultant for a Republican presidential contender who himself has an inconsistent record on life issues. "Mr. Cella's decision to work for Senator Thompson is the latest episode in a career of misusing the Catholic faith for partisan gain," said Chris Korzen, Executive Director of Catholics United. "In choosing to attach his name to the campaign of a former abortion rights lobbyist and opponent of abortion restrictions, Cella has proven once again that for him party always trumps principle." Senator Thompson recently made headlines when it came to light that he had lobbied the first Bush administration on behalf of an abortion rights group, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. Throughout his Senate term, Thompson repeatedly expressed his belief that the federal government should not regulate abortion, and in a 1996 Tennesseans for Choice survey indicated that he would support federal funding for abortions in some circumstances. Mr. Cella's Ave Maria List political action committee gave exclusively to Republicans in 2002 and 2004, and his Fidelis political action committee funded opposition to pro-life Catholic Democrat Robert Casey, Jr. in 2006. Along with a handful of other Republican-affiliated individuals, Cella also directs the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, an organization which provides a Catholic pretext for Republican faith outreach efforts at an annual spring conference. Cella served recently as an editor for the conservative blog RedState.com. "Mr. Cella has a right to live out his faith in the way he feels most appropriately called, and this includes working for candidates of either major political party," said Korzen. "But to employ Church teaching to advance a consistently partisan agenda is a grave misuse of our faith. The hypocritical nature of Cella’s decision to work for an abortion flip-flopper – something he has publicly accused others of doing in the past – only serves to underscore this abuse of faith and party politics." For more information:
### Catholics United (formerly Catholics United for the Common Good) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good found at the heart of the Catholic Social Tradition. We accomplish this mission through online advocacy and educational activities. For more information, visit www.catholics-united.org. |