Occupied holy ground

St. Paul's Cathedral in London has found itself caught, almost literally, between God and Mammon. Located in the city's financial district, St. Paul's has become a site for the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest, which is drawing attention to corporate greed and socially irresponsible behavior by banks and investment firms.

St. Paul's leaders weren't sure how to respond to the protesters camping in the courtyard. Though some were sympathetic to the protesters' concerns, they were also heartbroken at finding graffiti on the church wall and human waste in the courtyard and inside the church. The presence of the protesters also caused a sharp drop in visitors to the cathedral, which meant a loss of up to $24,000 a day.

Church officials closed the cathedral, citing health and safety concerns, then opened it a week later, having apparently resolved those concerns. They vacillated between defending the protesters and urging them to go away. Some pressed for the police to remove the protesters, while others thought that such a step would be a public relations disaster. Amid the turmoil, the canon of the cathedral, the dean and a part-time chaplain resigned. By early November, the protesters had received assurances from the cathedral that they could stay at least until the new year.