prison ministry Archives

Church, government partner to help more inmates get college education

Catholic News Service, Church in the US
Oct 7, 2019

So-called “Second Chance” Pell Grants, an experimental program to fund college educations for inmates and in which two Catholic institutions have been participating, are getting an expanded boost toward permanence.

Life without parole is not a solution to crime, pope says

Catholic News Service, Vatican
Sep 16, 2019

Sentencing someone to life in prison without the possibility of parole is “not the solution to problems, but a problem to solve,” Pope Francis told Italian prison guards, prison chaplains and officials from the Ministry of Justice.

Texas prison ministries bring grace, sacraments behind bars

Catholic News Service, Church in the US
Sep 1, 2019

A longtime effort of Kolbe Prison Ministries and Texas diocesan correction ministries, Kolbe prison retreats, named for the Polish martyr, offer incarcerated men and women the chance to experience God’s redemptive grace and mercy with a weekend featuring the sacraments, small-group sharing and more, organizers said.

Australian prison chaplain nervous about cardinal inmate

Associated Press, Church in Oceania
Aug 22, 2019

A chaplain at an Australian prison for pedophiles on Thursday described the prospect of ministering to a cardinal who until recently was regarded as the third highest-ranking Catholic in the Vatican as “nerve racking.”

Texas faith leaders say chaplains shouldn’t be banned from executions

Catholic News Service, Church in the US
Jul 25, 2019

More than 180 faith leaders in Texas, including 18 Catholics, signed a statement sent to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice July 23 asking the agency to change its policy banning prison chaplains from execution chambers.

Archbishop denounces human rights violations in Brazilian prisons

Church in the Americas
Jul 8, 2019

A little more than a month after prison riots took the lives of 55 people in Manaus, one of the biggest cities in the Brazilian Amazon, Manaus Archbishop Sergio Castriani denounced the conditions in the region’s prison system.