Priests and public policy

For those who might question the role of priests being involved in issues of pubic policy, we offer this from Saturday's obituary of the Rev. Thomas Phelan from Troy:

Preserving local history was always important to him, even at a time when the notion wasn't popular, said Thomas Carroll, a longtime friend. Carroll is now executive director of the Industrial Gateway, an organization that was dear to Phelan's heart.

"If it wasn't for Tom," Carroll said, "all of Troy would have been turned into a strip mall. He's a giant."

Phelan and a small group of supporters vocally opposed the urban renewal movement, a time when city planners razed old urban neighborhoods expecting to pave the way for chrome-and-glass cities of the future.