|
EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 17 |
April/May 1999 |
| OUR
MAGAZINE IN THE CENTRE OF LONDON |
| Priest working with the destitute |  |
| My name is John Concannon, a
Vincent De Paul Priest, in London as chaplain with homeless people
since last September. Since coming here last September, I have met a
lot of homeless sisters and brothers in the Lord and a great range
of personal stories of tragedy. Also a lot of inspirational stories
of people who have struggled hard and are in hopeless situations,
but have kept hope alive. That has been a great help to me.
I have officiated at two homeless funerals and attended two more. It is interesting that at least 190 people died in London last year and Unleash (a network of homeless projects in London) got together and brought out a report of what happens when a homeless person dies in London. The name of the report is "People not Paupers". One of the things that came across strongly at those various funerals, was the strong community sense that homeless people have, and how they like to come and do their best for their sister or brother who has died. The base for my work is The Passage, in Victoria in London. There are about 300 who come through the door during the day and then 65 people who stay in our night shelter each night, which is open 365 days of the year. A special occasion there, was at our Midnight Mass and I found spiritual help from the great solidarity of Jesus with homeless people when he was born on earth and got a new address for himself . It was at the stable night shelter of Bethlehem. Since coming to The Passage, I have discovered a fair bit about my own helplessness, that so often I do feel helpless as to how best to be with some of the people who come here. It is difficult at times to hold back from solving the problems and giving advice. Then on the other hand, there are some people who look for advice very clearly, but it has been helpful to discover that helplessness in myself. As I said earlier, I have got a fair bit of inspiration from a lot of them. Also the thing, "there go I except for the Grace of God". |
