A faith-based charity group has sued California officials for blocking them from handing out food to the homeless in a state park.

Park officials allowed Welcome INN to distribute meals twice last February, then blocked volunteers from unloading their cars when they tried a third time.

“We’re all incredibly disappointed,” Jim Seiler, president of Welcome INN, which stands for Interfaith Needs Network, told the LA Times. “All we’re trying to do is . . . fulfill our religious obligation and take care of the people.”

State parks officials say they sympathize with the plight of the homeless, but “it’s not appropriate for a state park system that’s designed for vacation and recreation . . . to be an answer to a social services problem,” spokesman Roy Stearns said. “There are other agencies set up that are better prepared to deal with this and better intended than a park system.”

This line in the Times article caught me up: “The all-volunteer nonprofit group used to operate out of local churches, but families in the congregations grew concerned about the homeless individuals’ scruffy appearance,” Seiler said.

Sounds like everybody’s got a case of NIMBY (not in my backyard), which, if this story is accurate, even the Vatican has caught.