In mid February, we visited the town of
Ave Maria. This town is all brand new. It was built as a high end community, with a world class university and golf course. Here's a bit of trivia about Ave Maria. Enjoy.
Florida's holy land, the town of Ave Maria.
Ave Maria is a fledgling town that was once a tomato field.
The 5,000-acre town the religious vision of Domino's Pizza tycoon
Tom Monaghan. It's between
Naples and Immokalee. It takes 20 minutes to reach Interstate 75 if you ignore the speed limit.
It's so remote that conservative commentator
Rush Limbaugh's radio show crackles with static on the AM dial, reports the St. Petersburg Times.
There is a Monaghan museum it the office of Ave Maria Development, overseer of the entire project. Monaghan's credo stares down from a display: "I believe my mission is to get as many people to heaven as possible."
Ave Maria's projected population of 11,000 stands at about 500.
The town is home to one of Florida’s most impressive modern churches. Its interior steel-beam vaulting rises 104 feet. You can see it from miles away.
Monaghan wants to give the massive 1,100-seat church to the Diocese of Venice.
But the Catholic bishop is reluctant to assume the upkeep, including the frightening air conditioning demands. Big church, so few parishioners.
The town's coffee shop is called the Bean and there are pictures of the Virgin Mary on the wall.
The Bean serves up conservative sentiments on its cups: "Tolerance without conviction is the same as apathy" — Chesterton.
But thank God they do serve a cold beer.
The Bean serves bottled beer in a town without a grocery, at least until the Publix opens this summer. And an English-style pub is opening soon. It's called the Queen Mary after England's 16th-century Catholic monarch.
For those who like living in a religious retreat-like environment we say "AMEN!"
Founder's goals.
In a May 2004 speech, Monaghan expressed his wish to have the new town and university campus be free from pre-marital sex, contraceptives, abortion, pornography and gay rights. This elicited sharply critical statements from the international press, who saw such proposed restrictions as violations of civil liberties. Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union branch in Florida, challenged the legality of the restriction of sales of contraceptives. He said, "This is not just about the sale of contraceptives in the local pharmacy, it is about whether in an incorporated town there will be a fusion of religion and government." An opinion column in The Wall Street Journal quoted an Ave Maria faculty member who exaggeratedly called it a "Catholic Jonestown". Frances Kissling of Catholics for Choice compared Monaghan's civic vision to Islamic fundamentalism, and called it "un-American". In response, Monaghan announced a milder form of civic planning in which the town could mostly grow on its own, except that it would not have sex shops or strip clubs, and store owners would be asked rather than ordered not to sell contraceptives or porn. Contraception and porn would still be banned from the university.
Florida's holy land, the town of Ave Maria.
Ave Maria is a fledgling town that was once a tomato field.
The 5,000-acre town the religious vision of Domino's Pizza tycoon Tom Monaghan. It's between Naples and Immokalee. It takes 20 minutes to reach Interstate 75 if you ignore the speed limit.
It's so remote that conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh's radio show crackles with static on the AM dial, reports the St. Petersburg Times.
There is a Monaghan museum it the office of Ave Maria Development, overseer of the entire project. Monaghan's credo stares down from a display: "I believe my mission is to get as many people to heaven as possible."
Ave Maria's projected population of 11,000 stands at about 500.
The town is home to one of Florida’s most impressive modern churches. Its interior steel-beam vaulting rises 104 feet. You can see it from miles away.
Monaghan wants to give the massive 1,100-seat church to the Diocese of Venice.
But the Catholic bishop is reluctant to assume the upkeep, including the frightening air conditioning demands. Big church, so few parishioners.
The town's coffee shop is called the Bean and there are pictures of the Virgin Mary on the wall.
The Bean serves up conservative sentiments on its cups: "Tolerance without conviction is the same as apathy" — Chesterton.
But thank God they do serve a cold beer.
The Bean serves bottled beer in a town without a grocery, at least until the Publix opens this summer. And an English-style pub is opening soon. It's called the Queen Mary after England's 16th-century Catholic monarch.
For those who like living in a religious retreat-like environment we say "AMEN!"
Founder's goals.
In a May 2004 speech, Monaghan expressed his wish to have the new town and university campus be free from pre-marital sex, contraceptives, abortion, pornography and gay rights. This elicited sharply critical statements from the international press, who saw such proposed restrictions as violations of civil liberties. Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union branch in Florida, challenged the legality of the restriction of sales of contraceptives. He said, "This is not just about the sale of contraceptives in the local pharmacy, it is about whether in an incorporated town there will be a fusion of religion and government." An opinion column in The Wall Street Journal quoted an Ave Maria faculty member who exaggeratedly called it a "Catholic Jonestown". Frances Kissling of Catholics for Choice compared Monaghan's civic vision to Islamic fundamentalism, and called it "un-American". In response, Monaghan announced a milder form of civic planning in which the town could mostly grow on its own, except that it would not have sex shops or strip clubs, and store owners would be asked rather than ordered not to sell contraceptives or porn. Contraception and porn would still be banned from the university.
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