Salvation for us all

Salvation is the deliverance from sin and its consequences through Jesus Christ and is accessible to us all — regardless of whom we are or what we’ve done.

This sentiment is even extended to convicted criminals. Some, especially victims and their families, find it hard to forgive those in prison but it is “by his death [Jesus, the Son of God] has conquered death, and so opened the possibility of salvation to all,” said Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Redemptoris Missio (1990).

And as Christians, we are called to support the prison ministry because we are dealing with human beings — people who have made wrong choices and each of us has made a wrong choice at some point in time in our lives, says Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria, the liaison bishop for specialised ministries, which includes prison ministry.

“We are called to help restore these people,” says the archbishop, adding that prisoners have some famous ancestors such as John the Baptist, St Paul and Jesus, who all spent time behind bars.

“It is also the will of the Lord. We need to care for prisoners because he wants prisoners to be saved. It is the will of God and therefore the duty of the Church,” says Archbishop Slattery.

Fr Babychan Arackathara MSFS of the Prison Care and Support Network in the archdiocese of Cape Town believes that “once we accept Jesus as our saviour we experience salvation. And when we live in communion with Jesus we experience salvation.”

Everyone has the potential and opportunity to achieve salvation Fr Arackathara says. “With Jesus, all are entitled to receive salvation.”

The St Francis de Sales Missionary says God himself commands us to visit the prisons: “We read in Matthew 25:36-40, ‘I was in prison and you visited me…in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine you did to me’.”

He says the role of the Church is to preach the Good News of salvation to all. Fr Arackathara refers to Mark 2:17, “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I came to call not the upright but sinners.”

“In my work with the prison population I have learned that a huge percentage of the offenders were victims before they became criminals. Our call as Christians is to share the Good News to all—especially those on the margins of the society. The image of God in the parables of the Prodigal Son, lost coin, lost sheep is that he is a compassionate and forgiving God. If I profess to be a Christian, then I have a responsibility to believe that every offender or sinner has the potential to be a saint,” Fr Arackathara says.

Mariah Paulsen, an unsentenced inmate at Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town, says that thanks to the love and support of the Catholic Prison Network, the inmates have a feeling of hope and love has been found within prison confines. “We are so much in need of forgiveness to ensure love becomes a citizen in this prison and all other prisons in the country and all around the world,” she says.

Ms Paulsen says many inmates have reflected on their lives. “Most of the time what bothers people is the lack of forgiveness from their families, community and those they directly offended.” She says this leads to harbouring self-abuse, guilt builds up and fear, doubt and hopelessness set in. “There is no way for love and change. Instead worthlessness gains ground and the chance for light and love loses the opportunity to grow—hence the continuous violent or crime related tendencies.”

Prison is quiet, says Archbishop Slattery. “There is time to reflect, there is time to learn and to grow in prison. A lot of people come out better, others come out worse than before—and that’s where our work is important.”

The archbishop says that everybody needs forgiveness and “we can grow in forgiveness”—something very positive and a positive outcome of prison.

Fr Jordan Ngondo, deputy director of Correctional Services in Gauteng, says prisoners are human and created in the image and likeness of God. “They are our brothers and sisters from our own families, schools, churches and neighbourhood. They are people who make mistakes like you and me and they deserve to be forgiven and given a second chance.”

Fr Ngondo says that potentially every person could end up at a correctional facility—even Jesus Christ, “which is why we must forgive”.

Prisoners need forgiveness, but for victims and their families, granting forgiveness is not always easy. “For families that have been destroyed by crime it’s very difficult to forgive and impossible to forget,” says Archbishop Slattery. The prison ministry ministers to these families who “also need our help to be encouraged”, the archbishop says. “Over time, our hearts begin to warm. It is a slow process but it is important.”

The archbishop says an old French saying sums up the importance of forgiveness: “‘To understand all is to forgive all.’ Empathy and understanding is an important part of healing for families, and this is equally important for the prisoners.”

So healing for those on both sides of the bars is achieved through forgiveness.

Ms Paulsen says in her experience, inmates serving sentences or those awaiting trial who know they are forgiven “walk in peace and love no matter how dark the road ahead, because love surrounds their hearts and carries them through”.

She says that there are wonderful people “waiting in prison, patiently, to be forgiven and eventually to forgive themselves”.

“There are inmates here that have peace, but there are many waiting. God taught the message of forgiveness which will save a life from self-destruction and hatred,” Ms Paulsen says.

“When people begin to hear about the major reasons of crime and incarceration in our country and listen to the stories of transformed offenders, they realise the need to support the pastoral outreach to prisoners,” says Fr Arackathara.

The Southern Cross contributes to the prison ministry by sending copies of the newspaper to all prison ministries that request it. The initiative is subsidised by the Southern Cross Associates’ Campaign.

“We receive quite a bit of feedback from prisoners who receive spiritual nourishment from reading The Southern Cross,” says editor Günther Simmermacher. “Copies get passed around widely, and they present the prisoners with a link to the world outside as well as with a possibility of changing their lives.”

Mr Simmermacher said that one inmate even converted to Catholicism on account of having read about the faith in The Southern Cross. “Another prisoner sent the Associates’ Campaign a donation of 50 cents in appreciation of receiving The Southern Cross.”

Archbishop Slattery says the South African Church recognises the importance of aiding the country’s incarcerated people and is working towards having a desk in each diocese to ensure the care of prisoners.

“The Church is there to offer a new family to these people,” many of whom were once involved in gangs, says the archbishop. “We want to help prisoners encounter Jesus and be friends with Jesus and through him find salvation.”

Through prison care, inmates are offered many courses to “restore the individual and rebuild the person,” Archbishop Slattery says. Correctional Services offer the inmate studies, spiritual care and counselling—an opportunity to make right one’s previous mistakes.

Fr Arackathara says the prison ministry is gaining support but “the need is great and we’ve got to attract more people to assist us to reach out to the hidden population of our country”.

“I’m grateful to those who took the time to teach about forgiveness,” says Ms Paulsen. “I finally got it after three years hardened by anger. I am now of love.”

Ms Paulsen says that because of the gift of salvation “fruits of this labour of love—to forgive and to help others—are guaranteed in life, in death and in heaven.”