By Sister Mary Cronin, Catholic Charities’ Prison Ministry Coordinator
Pope Francis has always held prison ministry very dear to his heart and he has visited prisons all over the world. After all, the Catholic Church was founded by a criminal. Jesus was arrested, imprisoned, sentenced and executed. In Matthew 25:36, Jesus speaks of himself as being incarcerated when he says, “I was in prison and you visited me.”
Currently the United States has the highest rate of imprisonment in the world, surpassing larger countries like India, China, and Russia. One in three American adults has a criminal record, and one in two households have been impacted by crime.
In the Camden Diocese, who are these people who are incarcerated in the nine correction facilities – five county jails, three state prisons and one federal prison? Among them are our parishioners, graduates of our schools, people who once sat in our church pews, relatives and friends of our parishioners and many others. They are from our cities, towns, and neighborhoods, and some are from places far from New Jersey. They are all beloved sons and daughters of our heavenly Father and our brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Camden Diocese has a long history of volunteering in prison ministry, both laity and religious. They go inside the prison to help the inmates meet God, develop a personal relationship with Him, and then to discern a future walking with Christ as a returning citizen. However, due to the pandemic the volunteers have not been inside for over a year.
Many of the prisoners have told me that incarceration is like a retreat, as it gives them time apart to think about their past and future. They are determined to make a clean break with crime and to start afresh living the Christian life. However, they get very apprehensive and nervous about their release date. For many, their families and friends have either rejected them or they are deceased. Without the support of family and friends, many return to a life of crime.
An extensive study on recidivism tracked more than 25,000 federal offenders over an eight-year period. Nearly half were re-arrested for a new crime or a violation of supervision rules, and for half of them, it took less than two years to return to prison.
In the state and federal prisons, once the prisoner walks out the door upon release, the Religious volunteer must end all contact with the incarcerated person. So then a citizen returns to society, determined to make a clean break with crime and to start afresh. Where does he or she turn when life gets tough on the outside?
That’s when Catholic Charities’ Prison Ministry’s new program, ‘One Parish One Prison Program’ or OPOP, will be crucial to those who are newly-released. The OPOP program, still in early stages of development, will ensure that volunteers will be present to offer spiritual and emotional support and to show the returning citizen that he or she is not alone, and that they are able to survive in our present world without returning to prison. I’m going to keep you wondering what this is all about for now, but more information will follow soon. So stay tuned.
To learn more or to become involved with Catholic Charities’ Prison Ministry, contact Sister Mary Cronin, Prison Ministry Coordinator:
Mary.Cronin@camdendiocese.org or call 856-342-4106.