Meeting with prisoners in Isernia

At 4:30pm, the Holy Father arrived at the Prison of Isernia, where he was welcomed by the Bishop of Isernia-Venafro, His Excellency, Camillo Cibotti; by the Archbishop of Capua, His Excellency, Salvatore Visco, formerly the Bishop of Isernia (from 2007 to 2013); by the Prefect, Doctor Filippo Piritore; by the Mayor, Doctor Luigi Brasiello; by the President of the Province, Doctor Luigi Mazzuto; and by the Director of the Prison, Doctor Barbara Lenzini.

In the inner courtyard of the prison, the Pope then met with the detainees.  Following a few words of welcome spoken by the Director and by one of the prisoners, the Holy Father shared the following greetings:

Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

to the prisoners in Isernia

Dear brothers and sisters, good afternoon,

Thank you for your welcome.  I also want to thank you for your witness of hope, which I heard in the words of your representative.  Also in the greetings offered by your Director, I was struck by the same word: hope.  This is the challenge, as I said two weeks ago in the prison at Castrovillari: the challenge of social reintegration.  This is why we need a process, a journey that takes place outside the prison, in society, a process which takes place within each of us, at the level of the conscience and the heart.  To travel the journey of reintegration, there is so much that we need to do.  All of us.  All of us fail at some point in life.  And all of us must ask for forgiveness from these failures and travel a journey of reintegration, so that we will not repeat our offences.  Some of us travel this road within our own homes, in the context of our own jobs; others, like you, inside a prison.  But all of us, all of us ... Anyone who says that we don't have to travel a journey of reintegration is a liar!  Everyone makes mistakes in life; all of us are sinners.  And when we go to ask the Lord for forgiveness for our sins, from our wrongdoings, He always forgives us, he never tires of forgiveness.  He tells us: Come back to the right path, because it won't be good for you to take another route.  And He helps us.  This is true reintegration, the path that we all should follow.

The important thing is not to stop.  Everyone knows that when water is still it gets stagnant.  There is a Spanish saying that says: Still water is the first to be corrupted.  Don't stand still.  We must always continue the journey, do a little bit every day, with the help of the Lord.  God is our Father, he is merciful, he always loves us.  If we seek Him, He will always welcome us and forgive us.  As I said, he never gets tired of forgiving.  This is the theme of today's visit: God never gets tired of forgiving.  He picks us up and fully restores our dignity.  God has a great memory, he doesn't suffer from amnesia.  God doesn't forget us, he always remembers.  There is a passage in the bible, in the book of the Prophet Isaiah, that says: Even though a mother should forget her baby - and this is impossible - I will never forget you (cf Is 49:15).  This is true: God is thinking about me, God remembers me.  I am in the memory of God.

And with such trust, we can continue, day after day.  With such faithful love accompanying us, hope never fades.  With this love, hope never fades: love that is faithful and helps us to carry on with the Lord.  Some think that they are on a path of punishment, of mistakes, of sins and suffering: they only suffer, suffer, suffer ... How they suffer!  As your companion said, here there is great suffering.  There is suffering within and there is suffering also without, when we see someone whose conscience is not pure, is soiled, someone who wants to change.  Such suffering is purified, the fire that purifies gold, it is a hopeful suffering.  It is a beautiful thing to see, when the Lord forgives, he doesn't say: I forgive you, now get lost!  No, he forgives, he takes us by the hand and helps us to go on along the way of reintegration, in our own personal lives and in the life of society.  He does this with all of us.  To think that the inner motivation for a person's behaviour can be corrected only by the rod, I don't know if you would agree - that such things can be corrected solely through punishment, but this kind of thinking is not from God, this is wrong.  Some may think: No, no, we should punish them more, longer, more!  This doesn't solve anything, nothing!  Why do we put people in cages - excuse the word - if not for the sole fact that they are locked up, but what good does that do?  It doesn't help them.  The most important thing is what God does with us: he takes us by the hand and helps us to go on.  This is what we call hope!  With such hope, with such trust, we can continue day after day.  With such faithful love, he accompanies us, with hope that never fades.

I want to thank you for your welcome.  And I want to ... I may as well say it, since everyone is thinking it, every fifteen days or so, I call one of the prisons in Buenos Aires, where there are young people, and I speak a bit with them on the phone.  I'll tell you something: when I meet one of you, who is in a prison, who is working on reintegration, but who is reclusive, in all truth, I ask myself: why him and not me?  I always think this.  It's a mystery.  But beginning with that thought, with that feeling, I accompany you.

Let's pray together to Our Lady, our Mother, and ask her to help us, to accompany us.  She is our Mother.  Hail Mary ...

And please remember to pray for me!  Pray for me.

Having completed his visit with the prisoners, the Holy Father travelled by car to the Cathedral of Isernia.