Catholic Charities – Web site falsely claims connection to agency

Alexandria, VA— Catholic Charities USA today disavowed a Web site that seeks donations by claiming a connection with St. Vincent de Paul. The Web site has an address that is very similar to a valid Catholic Charities agency Web site, but it in fact has no connection with any Catholic Charities agency or organization.“Let me be clear, the Web site catholic-charities.net is not affiliated with Catholic Charities,” said Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA. “We urge anyone who wants to support Catholic Charities not to make donations through ‘catholic-charities.net’. We are alerting federal officials and will take appropriate steps to prevent donations from being solicited in such a manner.”

Catholic Charities USA is also posting a disclaimer about the Web site on www.catholiccharitiesusa.org, and is alerting local agencies across the country about this development.

When in doubt about a solicitation or Web site, interested donors should look up the number of their local Catholic Charities agency in the phone book and call that number. In addition, information about local Catholic Charities agencies and their Web sites can be found at www.Catholiccharitiesinfo.org.