SAN FRANCISCO - Franciscan Priest Treated the Poor as People, like Christ – so rare, today, An Example for All to Follow

San Francisco Examiner

‘Father Floyd,’ beloved priest at St. Anthony dies By: Tamara Barak Aparton 
Examiner Staff Writer
 July 16, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO —

The Rev. Floyd Lotito, longtime St. Anthony Foundation priest with a talent for enlisting the powerful in support of The City’s poor, died Tuesday night. He was 74.

Lotito, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, had been recovering at a San Leandro rehabilitation center from a recent fall, said Barry Stenger, a spokesman for St. Anthony.

Mayor Gavin Newsom called Lotito a "great man with a huge heart," adding that he "had friends across the political spectrum, not just in San Francisco, but throughout this country."

Lotito had been at St. Anthony since 1968. On Wednesday, volunteers and regulars in the dining room were mourning the Franciscan who called everyone "brother" and "sister," and bestowed annual blessings on cabbies and animals.

His colleagues said Lotito saw God in the faces of the destitute men and women who lined up each day for food at the Tenderloin dining room.

"His vision was to see them not as a social problem or a burden on The City, but as people," Stenger said. Read complete article San Francisco Examiner

The Gavel

Rest In Peace - July 16th, 2009 by Speaker Pelosi

Father Floyd was spurred to act on behalf of the poor by his deep faith. As we are instructed in the Gospels, he ministered to the needs of the sick and the hungry with deep respect. He once told me that God loves poor people in a special way; indeed He does, through the love of Father Floyd. Read more The Gavel