LEICESTER, United Kingdom – In Ireland’s Mountjoy Prison, a decision to temporarily close the Catholic chapel is being criticized by the Church.

The prison, which is nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security men’s prison located in Dublin, and houses over 500 prisoners. The prison’s chapel sees 25 people at its quarterly Sunday Mass.

A prison spokesperson said the chapel was being temporarily closed to repurpose it to meet a requirement for video link capacity, but said a partition wall will be erected to isolate the construction area. Construction is scheduled to take eight weeks after which the chapel will again be available for Masses.

“That this decision was apparently made without consultation with the chaplaincy service, which is a key component of the services in the prison, is even more alarming,” Keith Adams told the Irish Examiner. He is the penal policy advisor at the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice.

Bishop Martin Hayes of Kilmore serves as the Liaison Bishop to the Irish Prison Service.

He said he was “alarmed” by the development and the way it happened.

“This unilateral approach runs counter to maintaining harmonious and respectful relations in our prison community,” he said.

“I can only conclude that, arising from the approach taken and speed of action, that prisoners’ rights in Mountjoy – in terms of their freedom of religious expression – have been suppressed by authorities.  As the holy season of Advent leading up to Christmas begins this Sunday, the timing of this decision is particularly poignant,” he said.

Hayes acknowledged he had been informed that work would happen at the chapel, he was not given the starting day or given information about the extent of the work being planned.

“The prison chapel is consecrated ground, and I intend to raise the Mountjoy Prison chapel case with the IPS Director General, Ms. Caron McCaffrey, when we meet on Friday,” the bishop said.

He said surveys of prisoners showed that 60 percent of them experience mental health difficulties, and that prayer and spirituality help best to manage prisoner stress and anxiety.

He said the hurry to close the Mountjoy Prison chapel, without due consultation with all affected, “must be halted immediately.”

“Over the past few months, I had been consulted by the Director General that some ‘modifications’ would be made to the Mountjoy Prison chapel, specifically involving the relocation of a Bereavement Suite and, while the chapel would be reduced in space, nonetheless it would still facilitate accommodation of 96 people to gather for the celebration of Mass into the future,” he said.

“I was further informed that the prison chaplains had yet to be advised of these proposals which were, at that point, still at a scoping stage.  In other words, at no point was it suggested that the chapel space would be closed off for worship. This is now the case,” Hayes said.

“It was my clear understanding that the prison chapel, after the planned modifications, would continue to be a location for the celebration of Mass with prisoners and staff as it has been for the past 150 years,” he continued.

“However, I am now hearing reports that works have commenced without any consultation with the prison chaplains and, in so doing, the facility of gathering for Mass in the chapel for prisoners and staff has been removed.  It seems that the chapel is being repurposed to facilitate Mass via webcam only,” the bishop explained.

“However, Mass via webcam is the not the optimum celebration of the Eucharist as it lacks the community dimension of in-person priest and congregation.  In order to appreciate the prayer of the Mass, and to fully participate in its celebration, physical presence at the Mass is most important as it enables the reception of the Eucharist,” he said.

“As we can all appreciate from our collective experience of the coronavirus pandemic, the in-person gathering for Mass is especially important for people who are forced to spend a significant amount of their time in isolation,” the bishop said.

Hayes said the “hasty way” the current works are being undertaken places the proposals for the relocation of the Bereavement Suite “in jeopardy,” explaining the facility “is essential to the chaplains’ ministry to prisoners at times of funerals for family members.”

He called the rush to complete works on the prison chapel, without full consultation with all stakeholders, an affront to prisoners and their families, to prison chaplains and to the wider Church community.

“This is devastating news for the prisoners and the prison chaplaincy services, and I am disappointed that the chaplains have not been informed in time or consulted about alterations to the chapel, not to speak of this plan to close the chapel as a place for the celebration of Mass with a congregation,” the bishop said.

“As I have said before, prison chaplains are at the coalface of our outreach as Church to our prisoners.  This strongly serves the common good.  However, it seems that they have been ignored regarding the closure of Mountjoy Prison chapel,” Hayes added.

“The chapel must continue to be the source of communal spiritual comfort, and healing and reconciliation, that we earnestly desire for our sisters and brothers who are in prison,” he said.

Follow Charles Collins on X: @CharlesinRome