Church should ‘scream from rooftops’ about homelessness

The Church needs to combat homelessness by lobbying politicians and Government according to a well-known activist.

Fr Peter McVerry said that the homeless crisis in Ireland is a political problem, and no matter how many Catholic charities such as Focus Ireland, Crosscare and the Peter McVerry Trust get involved the fundamental issues won’t be solved.

“The Church is a body that lives in Irish society and it has a right to have its say, not to demand, and I think on this issue it ought to be saying very, very strongly that homelessness, and particularly homeless families, is totally unacceptable,” he told The Irish Catholic.

Fr McVerry said that the Church has become embroiled in other social and political issues such as contraception, divorce and same-sex marriage, and that “it ought to be screaming from the rooftops about the problem of homelessness” in order to influence policy.

“It’s not good enough for homeless people to depend on charity to have a home,” he added.

The Peter McVerry Trust opened 11 apartments this week in St Agatha’s Court, Dublin, for those who are exiting homelessness and are on the social housing list.

CEO, Pat Doyle said their team will be encouraging residents to settle into their community and to “to fully reintegrating into society through training, education and employment”. So far the charity have provided 50 apartments so far by reusing existing buildings in Dublin.