During Holy Week—the most sacred time of the Catholic calendar—Catholic Charities of Central New Mexico [CCCNM], a social justice arm of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe posted on its social media accounts promoting transgender events and pro-abortion organizations that not only attack Catholic teaching but worse put children in potentially predatory sexual situations.
On Holy Tuesday, the organization promoted “Trans Day of Visibility.” More alarming, the next day on Holy Wednesday, it promoted a Planned Parenthood sponsored program of TeenMpower, a “Lavender Prom” event aimed at youth under 18 to intermingle with adults, described as “teens and allies.”
The event encourages participation across a broad age range of young teens with adults offering “free rapid HIV testing” during the event. In fact, the 2024 Lavender Prom featured 4-5 grown adult males and drag performers attending Planned Parenthood’s TeenMpower event.
HELP LIFENEWS SAVE BABIES FROM ABORTION! Please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
“This is shocking and sacrilegious behavior coming from a Catholic organization that solicits donations from faithful Catholics, during Holy Week of all times—its affront to every Catholic and a cause for grave concern,” said Elisa Martinez, Executive Director of New Mexico Alliance for Life. “There is no excuse for this blatant, reckless promotion of evil, especially among children, during Holy Week of all times. There must be accountability from the top down.”
New Mexico Alliance for Life calls on Catholics and pro-life New Mexicans to contact Catholic Charities of Central New Mexico’s Board of Directors and demand the immediate firing of Natasha Gacinski, CEO for promoting events that potentially endanger children, but also attack Catholic teaching.
We urge the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to take decisive action — including the immediate removal of CCCNM CEO Natasha Gacinski — especially since Archbishop Wester sits on the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities of New Mexico. Catholic Charities receives substantial funding from the Archdiocese and actively solicits donations from every Catholic parish in the Archdiocese. This means faithful Catholics are effectively being forced to subsidize these scandalous promotions with their Sunday collections and charitable giving. Donors should withhold all contributions to Catholic Charities until real reforms occur and the organization fully returns to authentic Catholic teaching.
On its very active social media accounts, Catholic Charities of New Mexico has yet to promote any Catholic related Holy Week events or activities but shared a Ramadan greeting during the holiest period of the Muslim calendar.
The contrast is troubling: a well-funded arm of the Archdiocese devotes energy during Holy Week to promoting Planned Parenthood-linked events with clear risks to minors and taxpayer-backed sexual components, while offering minimal commitment to building a culture of life in a state experiencing explosive abortion growth. Faithful Catholics deserve far better.
