Three years ago, on an Ignatian retreat in Wales, two of the staff were taken ill — a priest and a kitchen maid, Maria. At Eucharist, we were given regular updates on the progress of the priest, but radio silence when it came to Maria. Inwardly furious, I raged at the inequality: ‘Who will look after the little guy?’ I thought. A rhetorical question to God is apt to bring about a practical answer, and I determined to change the course of my life, from working in finance to striving for regeneration in the deprived areas of the north-east of England.
But to my great surprise I find myself occupied with bringing the Bishop’s Palace at Auckland Castle back to life. It comes with a throne room, the biggest private chapel in Europe, an important four-acre walled garden and 13 pictures by Francisco de Zurbaran. So where did I go wrong? A life pledged to the poor has been subsumed into the rarified world of Wyatt crenellations — what have they to do with the well-being of local people? Why waste the money on heritage?
Actually, when it comes to waste, pouring money into deprived areas to combat poverty beats everything.
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