'COERCIVE UTOPIANS': CHURCH GROUPS BLESS SANDINISTA CAUSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605540017-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: April 12, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605540017-7
ARTI"3 ED
WASHINGTON TIM
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`Coercive Utopians': (:Hurt
groups bless Sandinista cause
By John Holmes
and Ed Rogers
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
American church groups, many
or which have long histories of
involvement in national politics, are TARGET:
turning their attention to Central
America in increasing numbers. Reagan 's central
A
hil
d
n
w
e some church groups American Policy
'remain dedicated almost exclu-
sively to promoting church exten-
lion, evangelism and the protection
of human rights throughout Central
America, others have become more
involved in the movement to oppose
U.S. foreign policy in the region..
Now, many church groups share
common goals, projects, ideology
and membership with some leftist
political organizations. As a result,
they are tightly woven into "The Net-
work" of organizations whose pri-
mary goal is to seek radical change
in Reagan administration policies in
"Church groups in general, and
leaders of the Catholic Church in
particular, have become the most
i vocal and persistent opponents of.
the administration's anti-communist
strategy in Central. America," the
Wall Street Journal reported in a
1983 news report.
Commenting on this church oppo-
sition, a senior administration offi-
cial was quoted in the Journal as
saying, "It's the toughest nut we have
to cr"ack"
The number of church and
religious-affiliated organizations
involved in these activities has
grown in recent years. Some, intel-
ligence experts say that as much as
50 percent of the left-wing Latin
American "Network" effort comes
from groups and organizations
manned, funded or coordinated by
elements of some of the nation's
;
. major religious denomiations.
And in many cases, they say, these
groups are more radical, more
active and much more heavily
funded than their secular counter- .
parts. .
These church groups are "tllC
most effective in lobbying ...
because they wear a cloak of legiti-
macy" said Michael D. Boggs, for-
'mer director of international affairs
at the AFL-CIO.
"They get folks to write letters
who don't have the faintest idea what
they're talking about;' Mr. Boggs
was quoted as saying in a 1982 arti-
cle in Congressional Quarterly.
"The churches are the most active
group and the most influential group
lobbying against U.S. policy [in Latin
America], without any doubt," con-
curred Kerry Ptacek, research
director for the independent Insti-
tute for Religion and Democracy
(IRD).
"I would say that the churches and
their various executive groups were
primarily responsible for the initial
cutoff of aid to to the Contras;' he
said.
Perhaps most infuriating to crit-
ics is that some churches have pro-
vided money, credibility and an
audience to a host of other groups
critical of U.S. policy, ranging from
"human-rights" organizations -
such as the Washington Office on
Latin America (WOLA) - to a net-
work of organizations openly sym-
pathetic to guerrilla movements in
Latin America.
"So many left activists are linked
up with church-groups that it's hard
to know what is a real church group;'
IRD spokesman Penn Kemble said
in the Congressional Quarterly
story.
Few of the religious/political con-
nections are overt but, in many
cases, they are strong. And though
some liberal churches maintain
their own agenda, it bears strong
resemblances to that pursued by
many of their political counterparts.
One example of the tie-in between
the church and political groups is
the link between the National Coun-
cil of Churches and the North
American Congress on Latin
America (NACLA). According to a
1984 study by the conservative Heri-
tage Foundation, much of the
research used by those who oppose
Reagan policy in Central America is
derived from NACLA.
NACLA was established in the
NCC's offices in Washington in 1966,
and receives financial support from
numerous Protestant churches
through the. NCC's Latin American
Division. and through specific
projects such as the Presbyterian
hunger program, according to an
IRD report.
Other groups, such as the Wash-
ington Office on Latin America, also
benefit from church funding.
WOLA's 1983 Annual Report, for
instance, lists $124,602 in contribu-
tions from religious organizations
including the National Council of
Churches. of Christi n the U.S.A.; the
American Lutheran Church; St.
Luke Presbyterian Church;
American Baptist Churches, U.S.A.;
Board of Global Ministries (United
Methodist Church); Maryknoll
i Father and Brothers; Maryknoll Sis-
ters; Jesuit Missions; World Council
of Churches; the Presbyterian
Church, U.S.A.; the Episcopal
Church, and others.
The IRD also has documented
mainline Protestant church support
for radical political movements in
the United States and in other
nations, including Vietnam.
"Direct NCC involvement with
the governments and Communist
Party structures of the Indochina
j region is intense, conscious and on-
going;' IRD stated in a 1983 report
titled, "A Time for Candor: Mainline
Churches and Radical Social Wit-
ness."
The institute also has reported
that the United Methodist Board
funds the National Network in Soli-
darity with the Nicaraguan People,
which was founded "to support and
defend the Nicaraguan revolution,"
and other solidarity' groups that
assist the Salvadoran rebels.
"Support for the pro-Sandinista
network in Nicaragua and the
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605540017-7