Fishy

"Any person or family that, without any direct fault on his or her part, does not have suitable housing is the victim of an injustice."

Pontifical Commission Justice and Peace

"The problem with this approach (treatment first) is that it is almost impossible for someone to deal with addiction, mental health or other issues while remaining homeless. Hostels are often full of drugs; walking the streets all day long is hardly conducive to dealing with depression or other mental health problems. This approach is also very expensive: if it is to have any chance of being effective, hostels have to be well staffed with project workers. In reality, the end result was that many homeless people remained for years just going from one hostel to another, never moving out of homelessness to a place of their own. "

Peter McVerry SJ

"So, it's my position that you can do two kinds of harm to homeless people: one is, you can do real harm because you want to destroy them or exile them, but you can do equal amounts of harm by "helping" them if you don't help them in the right way." Peter Marin

BOOK V : THE TEMPORAL GOODS OF THE CHURCH

Can. 1254 §1 The catholic Church has the inherent right,independently of any secular power, to acquire, retain, administer andalienate temporal goods, in pursuit of its proper objectives.

§2 These proper objectives are principally the regulation of divineworship, the provision of fitting support for the clergy and otherministers, and the carrying out of works of the sacred apostolate and ofcharity, especially for the poor.

Dear Editor:

I am not a canon lawyer, and I am not familiar with canon law. Last night I was speaking with one of the employees at the Holy Cross Abbey, Berryville, Virginia. The employee stated that the monks lived in luxury. The monks have 1200 acres of prime farmland in Clarke County, Virginia situated on the Shenandoah River. The monks drive to Winchester on a daily basis to acquire flowers for landscaping (not for the chapel), bottled water (when the monastery has wells, springs, and rivers), and coffee for the monks. The monks purchase their food from Food Lion in Berryville instead of producing it themselves. 

Why should anyone care what the monks do with the farmland and buildings? In addition to violating their vow of poverty, the buildings alone are valued at $9M. The monks have completely lost touch with the poor. The monks pollute the Shenandoah by raising beef cattle. The monks do not even eat beef themselves. When 1.2 Billion people are living on less than $1/day and can not afford to buy beef, this is an affront to the poor. The poor that live downstream of the monastery can not eat the fish or drink the water because of the pollution. The monks themselves will not eat the fish from the River because of the pollution. Instead of cleaning up the river, the monks are only making it worse. The banks of the river have been destroyed by the cattle.

The Abbot, Robert Barnes, has so lost touch with the poor, that he is completely unaware of the homeless families and children in Northern Virginia. 6% of the residents of Winchester live at 50% below the poverty line. When I suddenly found myself homeless in Berryville, I went to the Abbey seeking assistance. I had previously been there on retreat; and have purchased many items in their gift shop. The Abbot refused to give me water, food, transportation, shelter or work; all of which the Abbey has in abundance. The Abbot did not provide me with any assistance. Abbot Barnes responded to my plea for help with threatening to call the Sheriff if I appeared at Mass, to arrest me for trespassing. Abbot Barnes accused me of lying about homeless families living under bridges in Prince William County Virginia. I told the Abbot that all the shelters, including domestic violence shelters, are full. With full knowledge that I had nowhere to go, the Abbot's prime concern was that I leave the property immediately, so that he can leave for his three-month paid vacation over the summer.

The Abbot is only accountable to God it seems. I contacted the Superior of the Cistercians in the U.S. and he said it was up to the Abbot of Holy Cross Abbey. That is certainly convenient. Thirty of the Cistercians in Jerusalem have been sent packing because of wild dance parties that happened at their monastery.

I am unsure what Abbot Barnes is hiding, but something really smells fishy with his attitude towards one homeless woman.