Denver Catholic

6 OCTOBER 14-27, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Around the Archdiocese Saturday Oct. 21, 2017 St. Thomas More Catholic Parish 8035 S. Quebec St., Centennial, CO 80112 Register now at GOSPELOFLIFECO.ORG Who is Saul Alinsky? BY THERESE BUSSEN G radual infi ltration of ideas so as to shape culture without its members even realizing it: This is what one man in the 20th century set out to do — and at the time, he even did it with the initial help of the Catholic Church. The man was Saul Alinsky, a Chicago man born as a Jew who later became agnostic. He studied criminology at the University of Chicago, where he got involved with the mafi a. He went on to become the founder of modern community organizing, and began that work with a vision of care for the poor, implementing his strategies in the Arch- diocese of Chicago. His ideologies and community organizing strategies would go on to infl uence the social and political movements of today. Father and son duo Richard and Stephen Payne of Arcadia Films co-produced the documentary A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing on the life of Alin- sky and just how far "his tentacles spread" into the philosophical inner-workings of our country — infi l- trating the Catholic Church and sowing seeds of the political polarization we see so widespread now. "He was really central to the pro- found upheavals within the Church in the care of the poor," said Richard. "His whole vision of reality breaks the fun- damental principles of Catholic moral teaching, which is that the end does not justify the means." Alinsky's approach, according to Richard, is one that is gnostic, a heresy that says you're saved by your ideas. "There's the oppressors and the oppressed, and they're attacked by force, and it usually ends up in violence," Richard said. "It's based on this engage- ment of a confrontation of oppressor and oppressed, that's so fundamental. It's created the polarization we see now. "The Church in Chicago bought into that and supported his work and it had a profound impact in the 1960s on the Church's project for the poor," he added. "He had developed nation-wide a® liates and community organizers." "He had great infl uence on organi- zations," Stephen said. "[Many modern movements] are funded by Alinski- an-trained individuals, people who stoke the fl ames of violence…it stokes anxiety and frustration in poorer communities." "Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, they studied Alinksy. She knew him and she thought he didn't go far enough. The tentacles [of Alinsky] are quite vast," he continued. The fi lm aired in September of 2016 on EWTN, won multiple fi lm awards and continues to air on the Catholic network occasionally. It can also be watched online at alinskyfi lm.com and is available for rent or as a download for purchase. Richard and Stephen Payne will speak extensively on Saul Alinsky, show a trailer of their fi lm, and reveal an exclusive 10-minute follow-up short fi lm on A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing at the Gospel of Life Conference. STEPHEN PAYNE RICHARD J. PAYNE Producers of "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" FR. DANIEL CIUCCI St. John the Baptist Catholic Church SISTER MARIS STELLA Sisters of Life Speakers 8:30 a.m. Holy Mass Fr. John Riley, presiding 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Speakers throughout the day Co• ee and pastries at registration Lunch at noon Saul Alinsky, known as the founder of modern community organizing, infi ltrated culture with harmful ideologies based in Marxism. AP PHOTO

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