Brother Peter Julian Bones sss., a member of the Congregation of Blessed Sacrament Fathers & Brothers, was born in Leeds. In 1961 he was called to Rome by his superiors (for a period of five years!) to help in the Generalate. Five years became ten and then fifteen... One day in 1979 Fr Peter was stopped near Rome's Railway Station and asked for a hundred lire. The young beggar was a fifteen year old Italian boy who had no valid family; his mother had abandoned him a few years after birth, his father and the woman he was living with would send him out to steal. He finally ran away from home so that he wouldn't have to steal, and had been sleeping on trains for the past six months. Fr. Peter listened with patience to his long, sad story, and then came up with a positive solution for the future. The young boy was delighted and immediately pleaded with Fr. Peter to help his friends too... there were seventeen of them, and many more were to follow. All were between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. They slept in and around the railway station, getting into all kinds of trouble and crime. This was Fr. Peter's new ministry for the next ten years, listening to sad stories and trying to offer a positive solution. Many times these meetings would go on till the early hours of the morning, sitting on a bench near the railway station.

Exactly ten years later in 1989 the number of young Italians living on the streets and sleeping in and around the station diminished considerably, but strangely enough they were being replaced by young unaccompanied and underage immigrants who risked finishing up on the streets like the young Italians. Many were from Eastern Europe: Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Albania - countries which at that time were under Communist governments. Others came from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and other African countries. In addition to being a source of comfort to the young newcomers who had left their homelands under poor and often difficult conditions, Fr. Peter was able to cut through the bureaucracy and secure proper documentation for them to remain in Italy, find adequate housing, (often in religious institutes) enroll in local schools and find jobs, either in Rome or the vicinity.

In August 1997, Fr. Peter had to leave the office under the station where he had been for the past ten years because of the renovation of Termini station. This office had become very precious, especially to many of the young immigrants. For the next three months Fr. Peter had to make do with McDonalds as a meeting place. In November of that year, Rev. Cecilia Monge Erazo invited him to St Paul's Within the Walls to advise her on problems of the young Latin Americans. At that time she kindly offered him space in the Crypt alongside the Latin American group, to receive young immigrants from other countries. Fr. Michael was away at that time on Sabbatical, and on his return the project received his full approval and blessing.

It would be difficult to say just how many youngsters have passed through the doors of St. Paul's in these years that my ministry has been hosted here, it certainly goes into the thousands. In the first years they were mostly Albanians, (more then 1,600 in four years). There has always been a steady flow of youngsters from Morocco, Ecuador, Brazil, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.

Most of these young men are looking for what every foreigner in Italy needs - a 'permesso di soggiorno' - comparable to the American Green Card. Fortunately I have been able to help around 1,600 youngsters to obtain this precious document. Some are just content to have the permit and then to disappear… until they have another problem, that is! The more intelligent stay in constant contact, coming back for advice on school, work and how to renew their permit when they reach 18. Fortunately, those who come back are more numerous, though we pay the price, answering more then 30 phone calls every Sunday, the day they have more time to phone!

Peter J. Bones sss