How would you feel if somebody who had been to prison came to live next door to you? What if someone who had been to prison applied for a job with you? We feel safer if we think that people who have been to prison are a long way away, unable to threaten us. That is very much how ordinary people felt about lepers in the time of Jesus. Leprosy was seen as a punishment from God for some great sin committed. Lepers were feared and side-lined by respectable people. Made to live on the edge of towns, they had to ring a bell in front of them, and the law said you could not be near a leper, still less talk to one. Once again, we see Jesus breaking down barriers, treating everyone equally, as beloved children of God. He approaches them, talks to them, has mercy on them. They are healed of this disease which cuts them off from the rest of society, and we are reminded that everyone, regardless of race or nationality, can be close to God.
In many ways, people who have been to prison are the lepers of our age. They are set apart, the lowest of the low, and in the popular media often not treated as human beings. Now, indeed it is true that for everyone who is in prison there is at least one victim outside. It is true that some people who are in prison have committed some very serious crimes and will need expert monitoring for all their lives, whether in prison or in the community. We must never forget those things. But we must also remember that the reasons people get involved in criminal activity are very complex and often involve poverty, abuse, drug issues and feelings of alienation. What we do know is that some people in prison are very thankful for what the Church does for them. In a report “Belief and Belonging” recently commissioned by the Church, this gratitude is made very clear indeed.
In this Year of Mercy, one of the works of mercy is the ministry to prisoners. It has been commanded by Jesus in the gospel (Matt 25). Many Catholics work or volunteer with chaplaincies, and our main Catholic prison charity, PACT plays an enormous and significant role in helping prisoners to resettle among us, and also helps the families of prisoners who are so often damaged by the imprisonment.
Please pray for those in prison, and especially for those coming out who look for a welcome in their local Catholic parish. Pray for prisoners’ families in your parish affected by imprisonment. Pray for all whose lives have been damaged by crime and the actions of others. We should not be treating prisoners like lepers. We should follow the example of Jesus Christ and see in them human beings like ourselves.
Mgr Roger Reader, Catholic Bishops’ Prisons Adviser
