Ave Maria

Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza, is planning to build a new town in Florida that is governed by Catholic principles, Pizza Magnate Seeks Catholic-Governed Town. He says it's "God's will." I say it's "Catholic Jonestown." Would you like some kool-aid with that pizza?

The town of Ave Maria is being constructed around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in about 40 years. Both are set to open next year about 25 miles east of Naples in southwestern Florida.

The town and the university, developed in partnership with the Barron Collier Co., an agricultural and real estate business, will be set on 5,000 acres with a European-inspired town center, a massive church and what planners call the largest crucifix in the nation, at nearly 65 feet tall. Monaghan envisions 11,000 homes and 20,000 residents.

During a speech last year at a Catholic men's gathering in Boston, Monaghan said that in his community, stores will not sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies will not carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will have no X-rated channels.

Homebuyers in Ave Maria will own their property outright. But Monaghan and Barron Collier will control all commercial real estate in the town, meaning they could insert provisions in leases to restrict the sale of certain items.

"I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines," Monaghan, who sold Domino's Pizza in 1998 to devote himself to doing good works, said in a recent Newsweek interview.

This is what happens when you're raised by nuns, 'Pizza pope' builds a Catholic heaven. You end up wanting to create a whole town that would be like living in a Catholic school from the 50s, with the nuns in charge of your life. I wonder if you have to genuflect coming and leaving town?

On the other hand, our own "Mr. Catholic," Rick Santorum, will have a place to go when he loses his Senate seat this year. After all, he's already left Pennsylvania.

All I have to say is, thank God I never spent my money on Domino's Pizza. I could never tell the difference between the pizza and the cardboard box. The taste was the same.