Greg Daly
Pope Francis shakes hands with Bogdan Pampareu (4) and his mother, Irina Flodorova on his visit to Capuchin Day Centre when in Ireland. Pope’s Capuchin Day Centre visit inspires plea
Greg Daly and Colm Fitzpatrick
Taking their lead from the Pope’s outreach to the most marginalised in our communities, Church leaders have urged the Government to make tackling Ireland’s homelessness crisis its top priority.
According to ‘A Room at the Inn?’, a pastoral letter from the hierarchy on homelessness, housing should be recognised as a human right, with its provision not simply left to the market and with housing policies recognising the rights of families and aiming to make Ireland a more equal society.
It quotes Pope Francis’ words this August in Dublin’s Capuchin Day Centre, when the Pontiff addressed homeless people, saying: “Do you know why you come here with trust? Because they help you without detracting from your dignity. For them, each of you is Jesus Christ.”
The 58-page letter was launched in Maynooth’s Columba Centre this week by Elphin’s Bishop Kevin Doran, Fr Seán Donohoe of the Capuchins Day Centre, and Dr Emer Crooke, research coordinator of the hierarchy’s Council for Justice and Peace.
In the letter, issued ahead of next week’s Budget, the bishops call for action to increase the supply and reduce the price of housing, claiming that Ireland’s lack of adequate housing is due to Governments prioritising other objectives. They criticise land speculation, encourage cooperative housing and advocate taxation and compulsory purchase orders to bring vacant sites into use.
Speaking at the launch, Dr Doran, who is acting chair of the Council for Justice and Peace, said landlords “should examine their consciences as to the extent of profit they make”, and said State land should not be sold to commercial interests.
Asked about the disposal of land by religious orders, he said it would be better if this were done in conjunction with local authorities rather than commercial interests.
The letter comes against the background of a new report which shows that the high cost of housing is forcing families into unsurmountable debt.
The research, carried out by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice (VPSJ) and commissioned by the society of St Vincent De Paul, revealed that the cost of housing was the single most cited driver of income inadequacy, followed closely by family break-up, unemployment and low pay. It also showed that many families resort to borrowing from other family members or money-lenders to try and meet their basic needs.
Launch
Speaking last week at the launch of the report, entitled ‘Stories of Struggle: Experiences of Living Below the minimum Essential Standard of Living’, Sr Bernadette MacMahon (VPSJ) said the impact of living with an inadequate income touches every part of a family’s life.
“They haven’t enough money to make ends meet; they don’t have enough money to pay for food, clothing – all the basic necessities they have to cut back on every one of those, and cutting back that brings us anxiety, brings us concern and brings very real pressure and burdens on households,” she told The Irish Catholic.