USA: Catholic charity angry over bogus election photo op

Volunteers at an SVP soup kitchen in Youngstown Ohio, were surprised last Saturday when the Catholic Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan with his wife, three children and a team of photographers suddenly arrived, donned aprons, washed a couple of pans that were already clean and posed for pictures before heading out the door again. They didn't meet any guests. The meal had already been served and everyone had gone hours before.

Brian Antol, county director of the St Vincent de Paul Society said they had not been contacted about the visit. He told the Washington Post: “We’re a faith-based organization: We are apolitical because the majority of our food is from private donations. We can't afford to lose funding from them. It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. If this was the Democrats, I’d have exactly the same problem. They showed up there and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors."

The Ryan campaign said that they had been told by a volunteer that they would be welcome. A spokesman said: “Our campaign and Congressman Ryan were pleased to bring attention to the meaningful charitable contribution the St Vincent de Paul Society makes to people in need.”

Source: Washington Post/SVP