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Heaven on Earth: But Dare You Live Here?
Do you have the guts to really live out your Catholic faith in all that it means? That's the challenge and promise being set forth in Ava Maria, Fla., a town that is still more figment of the imagination than actual bricks and mortar.
Located about 25 miles east of Naples, Ava Maria will be a town like no other in the United States. If the city planners get their way--and there is still a lot of legal maneuvering to be done to ensure this happens--there will be no pornography on cable TV or dirty magazines sold in stores, no contraceptives can be purchased in local pharmacies and no abortions will be performed at the local medical clinic.
Ava Maria will occupy 5,000 acres in a layout inspired by European town centers. Everyone will attend the local Roman Catholic church, a large and imposing building with a 65-foot crucifix around which the town will be built both literally and figuratively. Ava Maria will be a unique place for Catholics to not only practice their faith on Sundays, but also live it out the rest of the week.
At least that's the plan of Tom Monaghan, the billionaire founder of the Domino's Pizza chain, who is constructing the new town from scratch that will be home to 3,000 people and 5,000 university students, report The Associated Press and Newsweek. Monaghan is unfazed by his critics, calling the construction "God's will."
Civil libertarians have another word for it: unconstitutional. They promise to sue. "If they attempt to do what he apparently wants to do, the people of Naples and Collier County, Florida, are in for a whole series of legal and constitutional problems and a lot of litigation indefinitely into the future," Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, told AP.
The main business in town will be Ava Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in four decades, reports AP. All the commercial real estate will be controlled by Monaghan and the agricultural and real estate firm Barron Collier Co. Commercial leases may include provisions that restrict the sale of certain items, such as birth control pills or Playboy magazine. Homes will be available in a wide range of prices.
"I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines," Monaghan told Newsweek in an exclusive interview. Gov. Jeb Bush, who converted to Catholicism, has lauded the new town and attended the groundbreaking for Ava Maria University. |
