Cardinal says faith, poverty, interfaith relations challenge church

Published: 2005-07-11

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Key challenges the church will be facing in years to come are in the areas of faith, poverty and interreligious dialogue, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington said July 9. "Faith is the greatest problem we have to face. We are living in a world where faith is being taken for granted, or faith is being redefined, or faith is a cafeteria faith," he said. "People are deciding what is the faith and what is not the faith." He called poverty, at home and abroad, a major challenge to all those who take Catholic social teaching seriously. Lack of interreligious understanding today is behind "some of the most difficult problems of the world," he said. Cardinal McCarrick spoke on the closing day of a July 7-9 summer institute for young Catholic adults who are beginners in philanthropy or planning to become engaged in family philanthropies in coming years.

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