SF cathederal keeps homeless away with sprinklers

A sprinkler system at St. Marys Cathedral has been drenching homeless men and women who seek shelter there for two years.

The sprinkler system was installed after church officials learned that this was a popular method in the city's financial district, according to a statement provided by church spokesman Larry Kramer.

The system was installed as a "safety, security and cleanliness measure to avoid the situation where needles, feces and other dangerous items were regularly being left in these hidden doorways," the church statement reads. The bishop said he was worried about students and elderly people passing by the church in these conditions.

WhenSt. Marys Cathedral'ssprinklers were spotlighted in the media earlier this week, the bishop backtracked, and said the church's aim was never to douse people.

At a news conference Wednesday, Archdiocese of San Francisco Bishop William Justice promised the sprinklers were already being removed at the iconic church on Gough Street, which turned on at least once every hour, spraying those who slept there. The bishop noted the Cathedral is a hub for "hundreds of homeless people," and opens its doors to help those in need "more than any other Catholic church."

The bishop said that those who regularly slept in the doorways of the church were told in advance about the sprinklers.

The "idea was not to remove those persons, but to encourage them to relocate to other areas of the Cathedral, which are protected and safer," the church statement read.

Still, the church conceded that leaders now realized the system needed a permit and "may violate San Francisco water-use laws," and work to remove the system has already started.

"We are sorry that our intentions have been misunderstood and recognize that the method used was ill-conceived," the statement read. "It actually has had the opposite effect from what it was intended to do, and for this we are sorry."

The church made its announcement only after KCBS radios Doug Sovern first reported the story, alleging that the church installed the watering system to keep the homeless from sleeping in the Cathedrals doorways.

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SF cathederal keeps homeless away with sprinklers