October 31, 2007

Vatican under fire as 4,000 face eviction

The protest could scarcely have come at a more embarrassing time for the Italian Roman Catholic hierarchy or its leader. Last month, Archbishop Bagnasco made a widely reported speech in which he deplored a shortage of low-cost housing. He said: "I am referring in particular to the tragedies of those such as pensioners or single-income families who are served with eviction orders and cannot find alternative [accommodation]."

The former Archbishop of Siena, Gaetano Bonicelli, who advises the bishops' conference on social policy, stressed the evictions were being carried out, not by the church directly, but by the property agents of organisations linked to it. However, he said, their conduct was "certainly not in line with the teaching of the popes on the right to housing".


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