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Posted on 08/22/2022 6:16:23 PM PDT by marshmallow
PORTLAND, Oregon — On warm nights, Father Paulinus Mangesho sleeps in a back room, lest stray bullets pierce the rectory walls.
Immaculate Heart Church, one of the most historic houses of worship in Portland, stands tall and graceful on what has become the city’s most dangerous block.
The sidewalks are an open-air market for crack cocaine, prostitution and settling scores. Gunfire has left pock marks on Immaculate Heart’s soaring steeple.
The church is across from Dawson Park, home to diurnal picnickers and nocturnal ne’er-do-wells. Since the pandemic, those in the drug trade have spilled boldly across the street, setting up lawn chairs alongside Immaculate Heart.
“All this is affecting my parish,” said Father Mangesho, a 64-year-old Tanzanian missionary who came to Oregon in 2014.
Mangesho insists that Immaculate Heart must remain at this troubled spot as a blessing to the neighborhood.
“If someday we are not here, the Catholic Church will have failed and the devil will have won the war,” the priest told the Catholic Sentinel, Portland’s archdiocesan newspaper.
Sandy Hansen has lived near Dawson Park for a decade. She’s fed up.
“The park is ridiculous,” Hansen said. “You get hailed to buy drugs. Then in front of your house you see more drugs. People doing drugs are leaning up against the church.”
(Excerpt) Read more at cruxnow.com ...
I was born just a few hundred yards from there. Grew up on the other side of town, though.
What dangers? Only white conservatives are terrorists
In more sane days a few of Sandy’s male friends and relatives would have handled this problem already.
Late at night.
Quietly.
L
Keep voting for the Dems.
I’m guessing most of Portland wasn’t like that 30 years ago (I’ve never been to Portland).
No, it wasn’t, but the decline was under way even then. I really miss the Portland of 50 years ago, but it’s gone, and not coming back. It’s nearly 20 years since I’ve even visited there.
I can’t speak for 30 years ago, but Portland definitely wasn’t the hellhole is back in the 1970s. It had a leftist undercurrent, but the communists weren’t the ruling clique back then as they are now.
This is making me a little worried. My daughter has to go to Portland this week. Hopefully she won’t need to be near this part of the city.
Brave priest. Portland is a beautiful city with tons of Trumps supporters.https://youtu.be/lzg7FllXTbo. The IHM parish needs to exorcise the demons by offering daily confessions, daily latin masses and daily prayers to a powerful saint.
I’m sure she’ll be ok but any part near downtown and a few others are hazardous. Notice this church is right next to a children’s clinic.
Left darkest Africa to bring the Scripture to the savages in Portland
Is the airport near the downtown at all? She’ll be there first and then another place which I have no idea where that is. She’s got a pretty good head on her shoulders. Lived in NYC for almost 9 years, so hopefully that situational awareness will still be with her. I just don’t want her to let her guard down.
“Brave priest.
Left darkest Africa to bring the Scripture to the savages in Portland”
Portland, where even most angels fear to tread
ping
I think she uses Uber a lot. Thanks for helping me understand that it might not be dangerous where she is likely to be. I’m still a mom, even though she’s very much an adult.
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Odds are that she’ll be fine, especially if she has enough sense to avoid wandering around sketchy areas in the middle of the night and so forth. Most of the people in Portland are not out to harm anyone. I hope her visit is pleasant.
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