When Pope Benedict XVI visited a homeless shelter in Rome last year he told those gathered that the Church loved them profoundly and wouldn’t abandon them, “because it recognises in every one of your faces, the face of Christ”.
The Pope was expressing one of the foundational truths on which our Church is built; each person has been created in the image and likeness of God. It is a pity that our politicians are not guided by such Divine understanding.
WA Police Minister Rob Johnson recently announced that all homeless people would be removed from the Perth CBD during the meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in October this year. Unfortunately, his insensitive comments on the plight of those living on the street attracted the majority of media attention and no one seemed to pick up that they were merely a superficial indication of a much deeper and more serious issue.
Premier Colin Barnett did his best to smooth over the mess when he met with a group of people who were living on the city’s streets, but what he really did was simply give Mr Johnson’s words a more politically and socially acceptable flavour. Mr Barnett said he didn’t expect CHOGM would have a significant impact on those living on the streets. However, with the verbal dexterity of a conditioned politician, he provided himself with an emergency exit door: “But if it does, those people will be treated with respect and found accommodation.”
I have no reason to doubt Mr Barnett’s sincerity in his desire to house those affected for the three day gathering but, as with the majority of politicians across the globe, he does not seem to be guided by Divine wisdom. Inevitably, this worldly way of thinking leads to the most vulnerable and fragile people in our societies being buried under the demands and desires of the more influential.
So if history is anything to go by then the fate of those living on the streets of Perth in October has already been written. A study of any major world event in recent years, whether it is CHOGM, APEC, the Olympics, G7 summits etc, will indicate a familiar pattern. When the world’s eyes turn toward a host city, they will airbrush their public face to hide what they perceive to be unsightly blemishes. Those living on the streets or in squats or shanty-towns are usually the first to go. Politicians will work long and hard to present a utopian façade so that they can inspire and attract future tourism and, consequently, future income. It all makes financial sense. Sadly, though, those who pay the greatest price for this economic boom are those who already suffer the most. The physical trauma and emotional stress associated with living on the streets is magnified further when their own elected leaders want to hide their existence by sweeping them aside like unwanted trash.
On a human level, this is an affront to their dignity and self-worth but, even more tragically, it is a deep wounding of the spirit – an offence against their true Divine identity. Most of those who live on the streets have never received the love that is supposed to nurture this spirit and this, in fact, is why many are there in the first place. They eventually identify themselves as those around them do – by their lack of accommodation or their addiction, or their anger or other such behaviours or conditions – and their true identity in Christ becomes buried beneath them.
But it is not only our politicians who fail to recognise who these people really are; it is a blame that many of us must share. It is traditionally told that when St Lawrence was asked to hand over the treasures of the Church to a tyrant emperor, he presented him with the sick, the lame and the unwanted. He was burnt alive for his response.
Each of us must question our own attitude to the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Do we even acknowledge their existence or make time to pray for them or are we too, guilty of sweeping them into the forgotten corners of our hearts?