At noon today in Rome (6:00am EST), in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the personnel from the Regina Coeli Correctional Centre.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am pleased to meet you and I cordially greet all of you, beginning with your Chaplain, Father Vittorio Trani and your Director, Doctor Silvana Sergi. who I thank for their words. You represent the working community that serves the inmates at the Regina Coeli Roman prison: custodians, administrative staff, doctors, teachers, chaplains and volunteers, as well as your family members. I express my recognition to each one of you as well as that of the Church for your work which is carried out side by side with the inmates: this requires interior strength, perseverance and awareness of the specific mission to which you are called. And something else. It requires pay, every day, that the Lord will give you good sense: common sense in various situations in which you find yourselves.
Prison is a place of punishment and suffering in a double sense of those words, and therefore much attention and humanity is needed. It is a place where many, Prison Police, Chaplains, teachers and volunteers, are called to the difficult challenge of caring for the wounds of those who, because of mistakes they have made, find themselves deprived of their personal freedom. It is well known that good collaboration between the various services within the prison system contributes well to the rehabilitation of the prisoners. However, due to the lack of staff and chronic overcrowding, there is a risk that this laborious and dedication may be at least partially frustrated.
Work-related stress caused by the demands of shifts and at times separation from your families are factors that contribute to the weight of a job that is already psychologically demanding. Therefore, professional figures like you need personal equilibrium and valid motivations that are constantly renewed; in fact, you are called not only to guarantee the custody, order and security of the institution, but also very often to bind up the wounds of men and women who you meet every day in your work.
No one can condemn someone else for errors that they have committed, nor inflict suffering that offends that person's human dignity. Prisons must always be more and more humanized, and it is painful to admit that many times they are considered as places of violence and illegal activity, where human evil prevails. At the same time, we should never forget that many prisoners are poor people; they have no references; they have no security; they have no family; they have no means to defend their own rights; they are marginalized and abandoned to their destiny. For society, inmates are uncomfortable individuals, they are a waste, a burden. This is painful but the collective unconscious takes us there.
But experience shows that prisons, with the help of prison staff, can truly become places of redemption, resurrection and life changes; and all this is possible through paths of faith, work and professional formation, but above all through spiritual closeness and compassion, following the example of the good Samaritan, who stooped down to care for his wounded brother. This attitude of closeness, which finds its roots in the love of Christ, can favour trust, awareness and the certainty of being loved in the hearts of many prisoners.
Moreover, punishment and every penalty, can not be closed; we must always have an open window for hope, both from prisons and from every person. Everyone must always have at least the hope of partial reintegration. Let's think of life sentences, too: With my job in prison ... Giving, doing things ... Always the hope of reintegration. A hopeless punishment is not useful, does not help, provokes feelings of rancour in people's hearts, so many experiences of revenge, and the person comes out worse than he entered. No. We must always ensure that there is hope and help to always see beyond the window, hoping for reintegration. I know you work hard, looking at this future to reintegrate everyone who is in jail.
I encourage you to carry out your important work with feelings of harmony and unity. All together, Managers, Penitentiary Police, Chaplains, teachers, volunteers and the external community are all called to move in one direction, to help those who unfortunately have fallen into the trap of evil to rise again and grow in hope.
For my part, I accompany you with my affection, which is sincere. I have so much closeness with prisoners and people working in prisons. My affection and my prayer, so that you can contribute, with your work, to making prison, a place of pain and suffering, also a laboratory of humanity and hope. In the other diocese (Buenos Aires), I often went to visit the prisons; and now every two weeks, on Sundays, I make a phone call to a group of prisoners in a prison where I frequently visit. I'm close. And I always had a feeling when I entered the prison: why them and not me? This thought has done me so much good. Why them and not me? I could have been there, but no, the Lord has given me a grace that my sins and my failings have been forgiven and unseen, I do not know, but that question helps a lot: why them and not me?
With all my heart, I bless all of you and those who are dear to you; and I ask you please to pray for me, for I need your prayers very much. Thank you!
(Original text in Italian)
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to the personnel from the
Regina Coeli Correctional Centre (Rome)
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am pleased to meet you and I cordially greet all of you, beginning with your Chaplain, Father Vittorio Trani and your Director, Doctor Silvana Sergi. who I thank for their words. You represent the working community that serves the inmates at the Regina Coeli Roman prison: custodians, administrative staff, doctors, teachers, chaplains and volunteers, as well as your family members. I express my recognition to each one of you as well as that of the Church for your work which is carried out side by side with the inmates: this requires interior strength, perseverance and awareness of the specific mission to which you are called. And something else. It requires pay, every day, that the Lord will give you good sense: common sense in various situations in which you find yourselves.
Prison is a place of punishment and suffering in a double sense of those words, and therefore much attention and humanity is needed. It is a place where many, Prison Police, Chaplains, teachers and volunteers, are called to the difficult challenge of caring for the wounds of those who, because of mistakes they have made, find themselves deprived of their personal freedom. It is well known that good collaboration between the various services within the prison system contributes well to the rehabilitation of the prisoners. However, due to the lack of staff and chronic overcrowding, there is a risk that this laborious and dedication may be at least partially frustrated.
Work-related stress caused by the demands of shifts and at times separation from your families are factors that contribute to the weight of a job that is already psychologically demanding. Therefore, professional figures like you need personal equilibrium and valid motivations that are constantly renewed; in fact, you are called not only to guarantee the custody, order and security of the institution, but also very often to bind up the wounds of men and women who you meet every day in your work.
No one can condemn someone else for errors that they have committed, nor inflict suffering that offends that person's human dignity. Prisons must always be more and more humanized, and it is painful to admit that many times they are considered as places of violence and illegal activity, where human evil prevails. At the same time, we should never forget that many prisoners are poor people; they have no references; they have no security; they have no family; they have no means to defend their own rights; they are marginalized and abandoned to their destiny. For society, inmates are uncomfortable individuals, they are a waste, a burden. This is painful but the collective unconscious takes us there.
But experience shows that prisons, with the help of prison staff, can truly become places of redemption, resurrection and life changes; and all this is possible through paths of faith, work and professional formation, but above all through spiritual closeness and compassion, following the example of the good Samaritan, who stooped down to care for his wounded brother. This attitude of closeness, which finds its roots in the love of Christ, can favour trust, awareness and the certainty of being loved in the hearts of many prisoners.
Moreover, punishment and every penalty, can not be closed; we must always have an open window for hope, both from prisons and from every person. Everyone must always have at least the hope of partial reintegration. Let's think of life sentences, too: With my job in prison ... Giving, doing things ... Always the hope of reintegration. A hopeless punishment is not useful, does not help, provokes feelings of rancour in people's hearts, so many experiences of revenge, and the person comes out worse than he entered. No. We must always ensure that there is hope and help to always see beyond the window, hoping for reintegration. I know you work hard, looking at this future to reintegrate everyone who is in jail.
I encourage you to carry out your important work with feelings of harmony and unity. All together, Managers, Penitentiary Police, Chaplains, teachers, volunteers and the external community are all called to move in one direction, to help those who unfortunately have fallen into the trap of evil to rise again and grow in hope.
For my part, I accompany you with my affection, which is sincere. I have so much closeness with prisoners and people working in prisons. My affection and my prayer, so that you can contribute, with your work, to making prison, a place of pain and suffering, also a laboratory of humanity and hope. In the other diocese (Buenos Aires), I often went to visit the prisons; and now every two weeks, on Sundays, I make a phone call to a group of prisoners in a prison where I frequently visit. I'm close. And I always had a feeling when I entered the prison: why them and not me? This thought has done me so much good. Why them and not me? I could have been there, but no, the Lord has given me a grace that my sins and my failings have been forgiven and unseen, I do not know, but that question helps a lot: why them and not me?
With all my heart, I bless all of you and those who are dear to you; and I ask you please to pray for me, for I need your prayers very much. Thank you!
(Original text in Italian)
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