Prison Ministry & the Death Penalty
From the introduction to "Responsibility, Rehabilitation, And Restoration: A Catholic Perspective On Crime And Criminal Justice"
As Catholic[s]...our response to crime in the United States is a moral test for our nation and a challenge for our Church. Although the FBI reports that the crime rate is falling, crime and fear of crime still touch many lives and polarize many communities. Putting more people in prison and, sadly, more people to death has not given Americans the security we seek. It is time for a new national dialogue on crime and corrections, justice and mercy, responsibility and treatment. As Catholics, we need to ask the following: How can we restore our respect for law and life? How can we protect and rebuild communities, confront crime without vengeance, and defend life without taking life? These questions challenge us as pastors and as teachers of the Gospel.
Our tasks are to restore a sense of civility and responsibility to everyday life, and promote crime prevention and genuine rehabilitation. The common good is undermined by criminal behavior that threatens the lives and dignity of others and by policies that seem to give up on those who have broken the law (offering too little treatment and too few alternatives to either years in prison or the execution of those who have been convicted of terrible crimes).
New approaches must move beyond the slogans of the moment (such as "three strikes and you're out") and the excuses of the past (such as "criminals are simply trapped by their background"). Crime, corrections, and the search for real community require far more than the policy clichés of conservatives and liberals.
A Catholic approach begins with the recognition that the dignity of the human person applies to both victim and offender. As bishops, we believe that the current trend of more prisons and more executions, with too little education and drug treatment, does not truly reflect Christian values and will not really leave our communities safer. We are convinced that our tradition and our faith offer better alternatives that can hold offenders accountable and challenge them to change their lives; reach out to victims and reject vengeance; restore a sense of community and resist the violence that has engulfed so much of our culture.
As Catholic[s]...our response to crime in the United States is a moral test for our nation and a challenge for our Church. Although the FBI reports that the crime rate is falling, crime and fear of crime still touch many lives and polarize many communities. Putting more people in prison and, sadly, more people to death has not given Americans the security we seek. It is time for a new national dialogue on crime and corrections, justice and mercy, responsibility and treatment. As Catholics, we need to ask the following: How can we restore our respect for law and life? How can we protect and rebuild communities, confront crime without vengeance, and defend life without taking life? These questions challenge us as pastors and as teachers of the Gospel.
Our tasks are to restore a sense of civility and responsibility to everyday life, and promote crime prevention and genuine rehabilitation. The common good is undermined by criminal behavior that threatens the lives and dignity of others and by policies that seem to give up on those who have broken the law (offering too little treatment and too few alternatives to either years in prison or the execution of those who have been convicted of terrible crimes).
New approaches must move beyond the slogans of the moment (such as "three strikes and you're out") and the excuses of the past (such as "criminals are simply trapped by their background"). Crime, corrections, and the search for real community require far more than the policy clichés of conservatives and liberals.
A Catholic approach begins with the recognition that the dignity of the human person applies to both victim and offender. As bishops, we believe that the current trend of more prisons and more executions, with too little education and drug treatment, does not truly reflect Christian values and will not really leave our communities safer. We are convinced that our tradition and our faith offer better alternatives that can hold offenders accountable and challenge them to change their lives; reach out to victims and reject vengeance; restore a sense of community and resist the violence that has engulfed so much of our culture.
| responsibility_rehabilitation_restoration.pdf |
| Podcasts on the Death Penalty |
MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES
Catholic Community Services Detention Ministry
Roughly 38,000 inmates live in prisons located in the Diocese of Tucson. It's a startling number, considering that most towns in the diocese have only a few thousand residents, if that.
Detention Ministry provides Catholic worship services and one-on-one spiritual counseling to people in prisons throughout the diocese. Priests, deacons, sisters, and volunteers carry out the work of the ministry.
Inmates benefit from this spiritual presence in their lives. They see that people care about them, and that they are not forgotten. They are lifted by the presence of people who treat them with dignity and respect, which helps them find worth in themselves and others. The faith they gain while in prison also helps them when they are released. “Studies have shown that inmates are less likely to return to prison if they are active in religious services while they are in prison,” said Barb Mattus, director of the program since 1993.
Roughly 75 volunteers conduct over 55 services a week in several prisons throughout the Diocese of Tucson-more than 2800 services during the year.
For more information on the Detention Ministry, please contact Mike Gutierrez at mikeg@ccs-soaz.org or call 520-481-9149.
Alternatives to Violence Project
If you would like to get involved with monthly 3-day interactive workshops for the local Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) chapter at the Wilmot state prison, please contact:
Patricia manning pmanning@email.arizona.edu (520) 622-1132
You can read about the organization at http://www.avpusa.org
The process includes a prison application & screening, volunteer orientation, then hands-on AVP training and mentoring.
Workshops are by voluntary participation only (no ADoC referrals). They are also experiential--not knowledge/content based. They are egalitarian, participatory, and spiritually infused (ecumenical & inclusive), focused on what the program calls Transforming Power. Our schedule has been Friday evening roughly 5-8:15PM, and Sat & Sun 8Am-3:15 PM, but may be slightly modified.
The group meets preferably on the first weekend of the month, if that works for volunteers, or else we'll adjust the weekend to fit the team. Consistency helps, however, not every facilitator would be expected to participate every month. If necessary, we can visit the question of the frequency of the workshops with volunteers who decide to commit.
Thanks,
Pat
Read Between the Bars
Read Between the Bars is a volunteer-driven collective in Tucson that focuses on getting free books directly into the hands of incarcerated women and men in the state of Arizona. Our simple philosophy is that a book can change the life of a prisoner by giving an escape from the tedium of prison life, teaching new skills, and opening up interests in fields that they can benefit from now and when they rejoin society. This article, http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/defense-against-tedium/Content?oid=1973054, from the local Tucson Weekly, explains why we do this work and the support that we need.
If you want to know more about the general prison complex, YES! Magazine just came out with its summer edition (2011), called Beyond Prisons, focusing on many of the social, cultural, and political issues of the prison system. You can find much of this information on their website: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/beyond-prisons.
HOW TO HELP
Our main activities are our Book Packing Parties. At these events, volunteers match books to a prisoner's request. You read their letter, peruse our library of books, and pick out the books that best match what they're asking for. Then, you wrap it up, address the package, and we send them out the next day.
We receive about 80 request letters per month, and have recently seen this number growing. It costs us about $3-5 dollars to send 2-4 books to one prisoner, and although we have money raised from tabling, events, and donations, we are always looking for more monetary support.
Interested groups are invited to organize a Packing Party with us by choosing a date, getting the word out, and contributing money towards sending the books out. We usually suggest $10 per person to cover the cost of 3 packages per person during the 2 hour time span. All monetary donations go directly to sending books to prisoners, and help us to pay for the mailing supplies.
We are always looking for donations of brown paper bags to wrap with, money for postage, and PAPERBACK books, including dictionaries, Spanish/English dictionaries, Almanacs, and How To books. We have two drop-off locations and can also arrange pick-ups.
CONTACTS
Elsbeth Pollack and Michael Lovelace
Website: www.readbetweenthebars.org
Email: readbetweenthebars@gmail.com
Phone: 412 337 9765
Read Between the Bars
C/O Daily Planet Publishing
P.O. Box 1589
Tucson, AZ 85702
