Dinner raises $1 million in scholarship money for Catholic University

Published: 2005-02-01

MIAMI (CNS) -- The Catholic University of America and Catholic education in general got a boost Jan. 28 when the nation's seven cardinals who head U.S. archdioceses gathered in Miami for the 16th annual American Cardinals Dinner. The dinner raised more than $1 million for Catholic University's scholarship fund. It also provided a forum for the cardinals to praise the effectiveness of Catholic schools and urge that poor families be given "equal opportunity" to attend them. "There is a system that's successful and it should be supported if we want to have successful people in the church and in the nation," Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York said during a brief photo opportunity with reporters. He cited statistics from his own archdiocese showing that between 65 percent and 80 percent of the students attending New York's 116 Catholic schools live below the poverty line. Yet, 95 percent of the archdiocese's Catholic school graduates went on to college, while only 40 percent of New York City's public school students graduate from high school.

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