Maverick priest braves indifference, poverty to reach young sex workers

[struggle4progress]

JUSTIN M. NORTONAssociated PressSAN FRANCISCO - The Rev. River Sims' rent-controlled efficiency apartment is lined with handmade crucifixes and photos of young male hustlers who sold sex for cash. Many are now dead. <snip>

"St. Francis said, 'Preach as much as you can but use as few words as possible,'" says Sims.

Sims, 45, a priest in the independent Apostolic Catholic Church, is part of a resurgence in urban missionaries who feel more at home on the streets than in parishes, says the Rev. Mario DiCicco, president of the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley. They are opening soup kitchens and working with the disenfranchised in cities with little institutional backing, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi's work in leper colonies. <snip>

"We think people are more important than capital," said the Rev. Chuck Leigh, who heads the Tampa, Fla.-based church and once trained for the Roman Catholic priesthood. The church is "more progressive and inclusive" than some Christian faiths, he said. <snip>

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/14192952.htm

[NMMNG]

1. It's nice to see somebody

who can rise above the usual prejudices to care for gay sex-workers.