5/6/2023 0 Comments Pope visits prisoners"Caring for prisoners is good for everyone, as a human community, since the way in which these 'least ones' are treated is a measure of the dignity and the hope of a society," he said.įrancis has long maintained a prison ministry, staying in touch with Argentine inmates he got to know while archbishop in Buenos Aires. Sister Rose Celine told Francis that her congregation works specifically with women prisoners, offering them counseling and religious direction.įrancis thanked her for her ministry and recalled that whenever he meets with inmates, he asks himself the same question: "Why them and not me?" Human rights groups had urged Francis to use his Bahrain visit to call for an end to capital punishment and to advocate for political prisoners, hundreds of whom have been detained since Bahrain violently crushed the 2011 Arab Spring protests with the help of neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.įrancis praised the prison ministry undertaken by some of the Catholic Carmelite nuns in Bahrain during a meeting with clergy and religious sisters at Sacred Heart Church in the capital Manama. He specifically mentioned its prisoners, saying "the way in which these 'least ones' are treated is a measure of the dignity and the hope of a society."įrancis again raised the plight of prisoners in Bahrain in the final event of his four-day trip. May the power of his love and his resurrection always be a path leading you to new life.MANAMA, Bahrain - Pope Francis wrapped up the first-ever papal trip to Bahrain on Sunday by encouraging priests and nuns to keep ministering to the Gulf kingdom's tiny Catholic flock. Jesus helps us to journey along the paths of life and fulfillment. He is ‘the way, and the truth, and the life.’ He comes to save us from the lie that says no one can change, the lie of thinking that no one can change. “Let us look to Jesus, who washes our feet. Pope Francis concluded his brief remarks with the encouragement that, through Christ, transformation is possible. And this was a continuation of a practice he had established as part of his Holy Week activities while Archbishop of Buenos Aires. As one of the first acts of his papacy, Pope Francis visited a juvenile prison in Rome, offering mass and physically washing the feet of twelve of the prison residents on Maundy Thursday. This is not the first time the pope has visited a correctional facility. “This time in you life can only have one purpose,” he said, “to give you a hand in getting back on the right road, to give you a hand, and to help you rejoin society.” Such a rehabilitation, he added, would elevate the morale of all. Pope Francis reminded all present that rehabilitation is the responsibility of all of society-from corrections workers, to those in communities outside prisons, to the prisoners themselves. He wants us to keep walking along the paths of life, to realize that we have a mission, and that confinement is never the same thing as exclusion.” He wants to help us to set out again, to resume our journey, to recover our hope, to restore our faith and trust. “Jesus comes to meet us, so that he can restore our dignity as children of God. Rather, he tells us, ‘Unless I wash your feet, you have no share with me.”’ĭespite their incarceration, the pope assured his audience of their divine worth, and the need to keep walking. He doesn’t question us about what we have done. “He wants to heal our wounds, to soothe our feet which hurt from travelling alone, to wash each of us clean of the dust from our journey. Though individuals take different paths, he said, all need to be cleansed by Jesus. Using John 13:1-17 as the basis for his comments, Pope Francis shared with those gathered the imagery of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. Resources for Friends and Family of Prisoners.Support for Friends and Family of Prisoners.Register your church or group for Angel Tree.
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