My latest response from CAFOD Director Chris Bain...
(Our Parish Priest has dropped support for CAFOD)

Dear Stefan
Thank you for your email to myself and Bishop John Arnold. I hope you don't mind me replying from both of us.

I have to agree with you and to disagree with you.

I do agree with you that there are vested interests from many quarters wanting to persuade many developing countries to have legislation legalising abortion.

Where I disagree is that these activities have anything to do with the millennium development goals.

The MDG's cover a wide range of goals from education and health care the provision of aid: the general human development of people living in poverty. When they were being devised some countries wanted to add an explicit goal on access to artificial contraception and abortion. This was resisted by many countries of the South, and the Holy See, who were engaged in drawing up the MDG's.

Since 2000 the Holy See and the wider Catholic Church has been a strong supporter of achieving the MDG's and the aid required to assist this. In the past 13 years we have seen immense strides in reducing poverty in many countries of the world, increasing access to education and health care.

At the same time we have seen growing inequality between the poorest and the richest countries and people within those countries. In short, millions of very poorest people have not benefited very much so far. We hope that the new generation of internationally agreed goals currently being developed will reach the poorest. I know the Holy See is also engaged in the development of these new goals and will once again want to insist that access to abortion does not become a global goal.

Stefan, I have read Obianuja Ekeocha’s moving reports about her home country, Nigeria. I've also seen the report from the Nigerian Bishops’ Conference and the statement by Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama from Jos (whom incidentally I know very well as a CAFOD partner and who has visited us a number of times). They rightly expose the influence of outside donors and Western governments but do not blame this on trying to achieve the MDG's. They know there are no MDG goals promoting abortion.

I would like to state unequivocally again: CAFOD is faithful to the teachings of the church. We do not fund or promote the provision of artificial contraception as part of family-planning programmes and are utterly opposed to abortion.

By the way, the offer of a conversation with you still stands. Your proposal of a recorded interview does not indicate any willingness to share views and understand each other, rather to interrogate. CAFOD is already accountable to the bishops of England and Wales and through them the Catholic community as a whole.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Bain

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Petition's still up if anyone hasn't signed
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/his-excellency-right-reverend-john-arnold-end-the-promotion-of-corporations-supporting-abortion

Stefan