Catholic Cathedral Installed Water System That Drenches Homeless People To Keep Them Away
Saint Marys Cathedral, the flagship church of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and home worship community of embattled Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, is under fire for installing a watering system that drenches homeless people to keep them from sleeping on the sanctuary steps.
According to San Francisco news station KCBS , the system was placed above four doors surrounding the cathedral that attract homeless people at night. They observed that, beginning just before sunset, water descended for about 75 seconds from a sprinkler above each doorway every 30 to 60 minutes, covering the alcoves below in water. KCBS reported seeing it douse homeless people and their belongings.
A homeless man named Robert told KCBS that being drenched in water can have dire consequences out on the streets.
Were going to be wet there all night, so hypothermia, cold, all that other stuff could set in. Keeping the church clean, but it could make people sick, he said.The Archdiocese released a statement Wednesday afternoon addressing the controversy, saying the water mechanism was installed two years ago and that people who were regularly sleeping in those doorways were informed in advance that the sprinklers were being installed. Its unclear whether church officials intended to regularly inform other homeless people who slept there.We are sorry that our intentions have been misunderstood and recognize that the method used was ill-conceived, the statement read. It actually has had the opposite effect from what it was intended to do and for this we are very sorry.
The city of San Francisco has taken steps to provide for its homeless population over the past decade, but the numbers havent changed much since 2005. The city counted 6,436 homeless people in 2014, 1,977 of whom were chronically homeless. This includes 914 unaccompanied children and youths, and an estimated 2,200 public school students lack permanent homes in the city.
The churchs water system stands in stark contrast to words and actions of Pope Francis, who has been a stalwart defender of the poor since assuming the papacy in 2013. Reports abound of the the pontiff sneaking out of the Vatican at night to serve the homeless, and he has also instituted several reforms in the Vatican to care for the needy: he gave away sleeping bags to poor people on the streets to celebrate his birthday, offered the homeless free shaves and hair cuts , and recently announced plans to install showers in St. Peters Square to serve Romes less fortunate.
To love God and neighbor is not something abstract, but profoundly concrete: It means seeing in every person and face of the Lord to be served, to serve him concretely. And you are, dear brothers and sisters, in the face of Jesus, the Pope said in May 2013 while speaking to residents of Dona Di Maria, a homeless shelter in Rome.
The Archdiocese vowed to remove the system by the end of the day on Wednesday, and also noted that it may have been operating without a permit, which would violate San Francisco water-use laws. Catholic Charities of San Francisco, which runs two homeless shelters in the city, told ThinkProgress they support the Archdioceses decision to disconnect the sprinklers.
The revelation comes at a difficult time for San Francisco Archbishop Cordileone, who is already under fire from local Catholics for inserting a morality clause into the local parochial school staff handbook that would allow church officials to fire teachers who visibly violate certain Catholic teachings such as being gay. Supporters of Cordileone rushed to his defense on Wednesday, pointing to his record of helping the homeless. But others, such as prominent Catholic journalist David Gibson, argued the Archbishops history does not in any way excuse the sprinkler system.
ThinkProgress reached out to the Cathedral and the Archdiocese for comment, but our calls were not returned.
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I'm thinking Jesus would enter the "sanctuary", smash every graven icon, clear out the pews and let the homeless sleep inside the sanctuary.
This church's actions is not defensible, by any means.I cannot imagine how leadership obviously sat around discussing how to address a homeless problem and ultimately this is the plan put into action!Perhaps the monies spend to soak these people could have been used in a more humane way...just thinkin'!
There is no justification that's going to stand up to scrutiny. For the $'s spend on the watering system, perhaps portable toilets would have offered a better solution. Surely they could have worked with their local leaders and provide facilities if that was one of the main issues.
Perhaps talking to the homeless to find a solution.....lest the church forget these are people, God's people
Another reason for me to thank god that I'm atheist.
The Catholic Church does more charity work than just about any other institution in the world, but it is still made up of human beings.
And, as a former Catholic, I can say that many of them do their best. My mother has become very devout and helps at the church's soup kitchen and food bank or at least did until she broke her scapula (not easy!), but it is most definitely true, they are only humans and they make mistakes.