[转]When religion calls, even rich people come

To his friends and colleagues, Jim O'Donnell was the highest of the city high-flyers: tall, successful, and, of course, very rich.

That was until two days ago. On Monday Mr. O'Donnell sent a memo around the office of his London stockbroking company. He told the staff that he was going to leave the glamorous world of international finance--and $1 million salary--to become a Roman Catholic priest.

Mr. O'Donnell's new salary will be about $10,000 a year. But, in the Catholic religion there are higher wages waiting in heaven: eternal life.

The decision stunned colleagues. One member of the office staff said yesterday, "When we read the memo some people laughed; they didn't believe it was true!"

But the man who was once an American football player and went to Princeton University is well-known for his strong religious feelings. His new job will start next summer in a poor parish back home in America.

A spokesperson from the Catholic Media Centre in London told journalists, "People can feel they are successful and rich and yet somehow they don't feel happy. When religion calls, even rich people come."