Don’t shut the doors

by Editor · Published July 27, 2011 · Updated March 6, 2012

Some years ago The Southern Cross learned of an inmate in a South African prison who decided to convert to Catholicism on account of the newspaper.

Having read The Southern Cross (which is distributed to many prisons through the Associates Campaign) and its coverage of Catholic thought on a regular basis, the prisoner aimed to turn around his life by embracing the faith.

This is one example of how Catholic outreach to prisoners can make a concrete difference in their lives. It would seem likely that the odds of recidivism among released prisoners decrease if they walk free as committed Christians.

Those who provide spiritual care to prisoners�the most marginalised individuals in our society�are thereby performing an important service not only to the people they minister to, but also to the public in general.

The faithful in Southern Africa should take the Week of Prayer for Prisoners and Victims of Crime from July 31 to August 7 very seriously.

As its title implies, the prayer week calls on Catholics in our region to direct the focus of their intentions to those who minister to prisoners, to prisoners themselves (especially that they may find the courage and guidance to change their lives around), and to the victims of crime.

In our feature article this week, national prison chaplain Fr Russell Campbell says: �There is a great need for chaplains in this ministry as they are the ones through whom the sacraments can continue to be made available to people once they are sentenced and while they are cut off from society.�

He points out that many prisoners are abandoned by their families and friends while they are locked up.

Yet, to have a chance of reforming themselves, prisoners need contact with the outside world. Indeed, it is Christ�s demand that prisoners be visited: �I was…in prison and you visited me� (Mt 25:36). In doing so, those involved in prison ministries give witness to Christ�s love in a very special way.

There are many Catholics who have taken up this uninviting mission in harsh environments; but many more are needed.

Pope Benedict in 2007 called the pastoral care of prisoners a �vital mission�. The pope�who has made it a point to visit prisoners, as his predecessors John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II did�said that correctional facilities �must contribute to the rehabilitation of offenders, facilitating their transition from despair to hope, and from unreliability to dependability�.

The Catholic prison apostolate cannot, of course, accomplish all that on its own. Of the elements mentioned by Pope Benedict, the Catholic prison ministry is best placed in helping facilitate the transition from �despair to hope�.

Also in 2007, the then-president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Renato Martino, warned that society could not �close its eyes, cannot be indifferent� to the living conditions, human rights abuses and often-dim prospects experienced by many prisoners.

The Church must continue to advocate for conditions that might more effectively encourage the rehabilitation of the inmates in our overcrowded and often anarchic prisons which are further congested with awaiting trialists, thanks to an overburdened judiciary system.

The state of many of South Africa�s correctional facilities, many of them run by gangs and giving little protection to inmates who wish to reject the gang system, can be dehumanising. It should not surprise us when individuals, some already lacking in empathy, emerge from jail with a pitiless character.

Victims of crime�those touched directly by crime and their family and friends�may well point out that their anguish tends to be ignored, other than in a general resentment of crime. It is therefore commendable that the bishops specifically include them in the intentions for our week-long prayers.

The week is then not only a time for highlighting the prison ministry and the plight of prisoners, but also an opportunity for the Church to review whether enough pastoral care is extended to the victims of crime, and whether their stories are being properly heard.