SafeNet's departure from the Mission is being documented here.
To read the current posts, please scroll to the bottom of this section.
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On December 4, 2011, John Hardin, O.F.M., Provincial Minister of the Franciscan Province of St. Barbara, verbally notified Paul Fericano, Director of SafeNet, that he and SafeNet would no longer be welcome at Mission Santa Barbara and that he would have to vacate his office and residence in 26 days, as of January 1, 2012 (since extended to February 1, 2012).
The vote to remove SafeNet from Mission Santa Barbara was apparently decided by the Franciscan definitorium (the leadership council of nine elected friars), although this has never been confirmed. Paul Fericano believes the administration took this action based on discussions with Richard McManus, O.F.M., current guardian of Mission Santa Barbara, who, since his appointment in 2006, has disapproved of SafeNet and shown no interest in ministering to a community in need of healing and reconciliation.
After nine years of service in the Province,
SafeNet's eviction was undertaken without any prior notice or consultation. It was not given a hearing or a review and was denied any avenue of appeal. Paul Fericano believes
SafeNet's removal may, in part, be a
punitive act as a result of his successful effort to establish the
Solidarity Project memorial on the Mission grounds in July, 2011--a project approved in 2005 by the previous Mission guardian and leadership.