Prisons Archives

N.Y. congregation’s concern leads bank to end private prison financing

Catholic News Service, Church in the US
Mar 10, 2019

A campaign by faith-based investors and investment networks, spearheaded by a New York congregation of women religious, led the nation’s largest consumer bank to announce it intended to stop investing in private prison firms.

Pope tells prison staff they must help inmates find hope

Catholic News Service, Vatican
Feb 7, 2019

A prison sentence without hope serves no purpose other than to stir feelings of revenge and anger in inmates who are looking for a second chance in life, Pope Francis said.

Inmates at Panama youth prison anticipate visit from pope

Associated Press, Church in the Americas, World Youth Day Panama
Jan 22, 2019

More than 100,000 young people are expected to show up in Panama City when Pope Francis visits this week for World Youth Day. At a detention center about 25 miles away there are 144 more who can’t make the trip, locked up for serious crimes including murder — so the pontiff is going to them.

Bishop praises UK government for pledge to end ‘very short’ prison sentences

Church in UK and Ireland
Jan 15, 2019

A proposal to end all custodial prison sentences of less than six months in England and Wales has been called “the right thing to do” by the Catholic bishop in charge of prison policy for the Church in England and Wales.

Bishop praises call for better mental health care in UK prisons

Church in UK and Ireland
Nov 5, 2018

A Catholic bishop has thanked the British government for acknowledging the role chaplains play in the mental health of inmates in the country’s prison system.

English and Welsh bishops: ‘Moral and humanitarian’ need for prison reform

Church in UK and Ireland
Oct 19, 2018

A new report on sentencing reform issued by the English and Welsh bishops has challenged the British government to reduce the country’s prison population.