Priests Urged To Preach on Poverty

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging priests across the country to preach about “the terrible toll the current economic turmoil is taking on families and communities.” In a letter to his fellow bishops made public on Sept. 19, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York said, “I hope we can use our opportunities as pastors, teachers and leaders to focus public attention and priority on the scandal of so much poverty and so many without work in our society.” Special resources and materials to assist in that effort are to be posted on a section of the U.S.C.C.B. Web site dedicated to unemployment and poverty. “Widespread unemployment, underemployment and pervasive poverty are diminishing human lives, undermining human dignity and hurting children and families,” Archbishop Dolan said. “The common good will not advance; economic security will not be achieved; and individual initiative will be weakened when so many live without the dignity of work and bear the crushing burden of poverty.”