San Francisco homeless vigil for souls lost to streets

[Kadie]

S.F. homeless vigil for souls lost to streets
Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 22, 2010


Prayers were said and songs were sung at a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening in front of San Francisco City Hall for the homeless who died on the streets this year, the 21st year that the often nameless, forgotten poor have been honored.

The multi-denominational vigil is an attempt to remind people that individuals die every year on San Francisco streets, said the Rev. Glenda Hope of San Francisco Network Ministries, who has led the ceremony for two decades.

"The idea is we have to tell the truth. We have to say it out loud. People are dying on our streets," Hope said. "One of the energizing things about it is we have different religious commitments and some people have no religious faith, but it doesn't matter. It's about finding that element that is common to all the religious traditions, and that is the element of compassion."

The somber vigil included songs, chants and the reading of about 100 names of the dead, each one followed by a gong, as a crowd of about 65 relatives, friends and homeless advocates watched. Several of the names were John and Jane Doe. Causes of death were also read - it was a drumbeat of tragedy, with many dying of overdoses, hypothermia, suicide and stabbings.

Prayers and sacred scriptures were read by a Catholic priest, Presbyterian minister, a Muslim imam, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist priest.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/21/BAF41GTSLH.DTL#ixzz18qiMZkaP

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