Priests urged to preach on ‘scandal of poverty’

WASHINGTON (CNS) — 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, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York said he was writing at the recommendation of the Administrative Committee, which directs the work of the USCCB between general assemblies.
“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,” Archbishop Dolan said, noting that special resources and materials to assist in that effort would be posted in an Unemployment and Poverty section of the USCCB website, www.usccb.org.
“Widespread unemployment, underemployment and pervasive poverty are diminishing human lives, undermining human dignity and hurting children and families,” he said. The archbishop pointed out that U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that 46 million people, including 16 million children, were living in poverty in the United States in 2010.
“These numbers bring home to us the human costs and moral consequences of a broken economy that cannot fully utilize the talents, energy and work of all our people,” he said.