Seattle University President On the Subject Of The Homeless

Fr. Steven Sunborg, S.J. speech entitled “THE HOME OF FAITH” at S.U.'s Interfaith Symposium on Homelessness held on November 17, 2007, there is no talk about the real issues face people on the street. The real issues that face the homeless are: chronic drug abuse, mental illness, chronic alcoholism and plethera of perversions, I am not sure a tent compound on campus is a real solution to real problems. I think more good comes from ministering the sacraments to the Catholics and evanglizing to un-churched.

I hope I speak to you this morning simply as one of you and one with you as religious leaders,
people of faith, persons of many faiths. I am the university president who gave the green light to and actively became involved in hosting Tent City 3 on our campus. The first university we know of, after many churches, to do so.

He went on to say:

A criterion I use as a religious person in this matter of how to work to end homelessness, as well as in other issues, is: “To do what we do best for those who need us most.” What is that we as communities of faith do best for the homeless persons who need us most? And who are the homeless who most need what we do best? And finally as people of faith we take the long view, which is the view of justice not charity. The long view that pushes to the permanent rather than the transitional and to the connected in community that overcomes the worst suffering of the homeless is their alienation. Religion is about overcoming alienation. That too is what we are about today. Link to original and full length speech (here)