Speaker says church seems to put money before evangelization

Published: 2006-04-21

ATLANTA (CNS) -- In contrast to how Jesus sought out as his companions people "who were on the margins of Jewish society," the Catholic Church is displaying an uncomfortably close tie to money, according to Dominican Sister Jamie Phelps, a professor at the University of Notre Dame. In a talk April 20 in Atlanta she noted that among reasons often given for closing parishes and schools serving African-Americans is a lack of money. "Rather than being the church of the poor, we are in danger of becoming the church for the poor once we take care of the rich. Am I telling the truth?" said Sister Jamie, a black nun. She gave the keynote address for the National Association of Parish Catechetical Directors convocation, which was being held in conjunction with the National Catholic Educational Association's 103rd annual convention in Atlanta.

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