Hand in Hand to meet with St. John Vianney management over fence

Two entities of the Catholic Diocese clashed on Tuesday evening when Hand in Hand Ministries started breaking down a portion of Saint John Vianney School’s fence. But it wasn’t some random act of vandalism; the fence is on a parcel of land that both the school and Hand in Hand are claiming. The two had agreed that no work would be done without consulting each other but the school claims it was not informed that the fence would be destroyed. In fact they were alerted by the noise when the work started and the teachers left their staff meeting to stop the destruction and block the fence. Hand in Hand, however, maintains that their plans were no secret because the diocese is aware of what they were doing. We contacted Abel Vargas, the Director of Operations at Hand in Hand Ministries and he told us they are working on an official statement. Meanwhile, Vargas says they met with the church’s hierarchy today and will meet with the school’s management on Thursday. While the St. John Vianney staff and principal said they were fighting to keep the fence for the safety of the students, Vargas says the large hole in the fence would have been sealed if they had just let the work proceed.