Priests from India regularly pass through our parish, and several of them knew her in life. They uniformly speak of how utterly unprepossessing she was in appearance, yet how powerfully strong she was as a personality. Nothing could be less phony. A problem I see is what, in contrast, Fr Kirk has brought with him into the North American ordinariate.
Ms Littlejohn's non-profit is called Women's Rights Without frontiers International. Searches on charity rating sites consistently come back with ratings equivalent to "not rated". Here's the entry on Charity Navigator. here's the rating on Guidestar. Charity Watch, which says they are “the most stringent in the sector”, returns no result. The most recent reports from the charity are annual revenues and expenditures of about $176,000. It recently moved its contact location from a post office box in San Jose, CA to 722 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson, MD, which is a UPS Store mail drop. This suggests that one of Fr Kirk's jobs is to pick up the mail and deposit any checks, but Ms Littlejohn, at lest on her Facebook profile, still lives in San Jose.
The charity rating sites make it clear that a rating of "not rated" simply means the annual budgets of these operations are less than $1 million, and there is no implication of either merit or scam. But for Women's rights Without Frontiers International to have an annual budget of about $176,000 raises the question of whether it has any programs at all. That sounds, to tell the truth, as if it's just Ms Littlejohn's salary. I'll welcome any comment or clarification from any knowledgeable individual.
My regular correspondent suggests, and I agree, that Ms Littlejohn, with experience as a litigation attorney, found herself in about 2003 with life-threatening complications following botched surgery, and she may well have obtained a legal settlement that provided her with very substantial funding for her subsequent lifestyle and highly public eleemosynary activities. The 2013 audience with the Holy Father would certainly reflect this -- but, other than generate publicity for herself, with other photos posed with figures from Glenn Beck to Raymond Arroyo, what has she accomplished -- I mean, for actual Chinese women forced to have abortions?
Women's Rights Without Frontiers International has no specific programs and no budget for them. I'll keep on supporting my local bishop's appeal, thank you very much. I would say, though, that Bp Lopes has added yet another risk factor to the North American ordinariate by bringing these potential associations in.
UPDATE: The IRS Form 990 for Women's Rights Without Frontiers International is available on its website. As explained on the form, its program consists entirely of ad hoc grants or handouts to a small number of individuals in the US and "stipends" to about 50 widows in China. No further detail is provided. The main activity as outlined on the form is Ms Littlejohn's public appearances to raise awareness of the problems. Expenses for "Travel and Meetings" for the most recent year were $16,231; "Other expenses" were $16,300.
Whether Ms Littlejohn is paid by the charity, and whether these amounts cover all, or only some, of her travel expenses is unclear.
