Bishop says prisoners deserve chance to rebuild their lives

MANILA — A Catholic bishop has urged the faithful to help prisoners rebuild their lives, saying past mistakes should not define their future or diminish their dignity.

Bishop Oscar Jaime Florencio, chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care, called on the Church, correctional workers and families to support people behind bars through concrete acts of compassion and solidarity.

“While a person may be deprived of liberty, no one can ever be deprived of the dignity bestowed by God,” Florencio said in his message for Prison Awareness Sunday, which this year falls on Oct. 25.

He urged correctional institutions to become places of rehabilitation and renewal, rather than mere confinement, where inmates can prepare for reintegration into society.

Florencio thanked prison chaplains and volunteers for providing spiritual guidance, prayer and charitable assistance, and recognized correctional personnel for helping ensure humane treatment and rehabilitation.

He also called on Catholics to offer comfort to victims of crime, saying a community shaped by God’s love must not forget anyone or consider anyone beyond redemption.

Addressing people deprived of liberty, the bishop reminded them that their circumstances do not erase their worth or their opportunity to begin anew.

“Your past does not define your future,” Florencio said, reminding people deprived of liberty that they remain beloved children of God worthy of compassion, forgiveness and a new beginning.

Fr. Nezelle Lirio, CBCP-ECPPC executive secretary, said the ministry must go beyond material assistance to foster healing, transformation and hope.

“Behind every person deprived of liberty is a life, a story, a wounded heart, and a human being who continues to be loved by God,” Lirio said.

He noted that imprisonment also affects families and stressed the importance of prison chaplains and volunteers in helping inmates recognize that they have not been abandoned by God or the Church.

“There is always an opportunity for conversion, renewal, and transformation,” he said.

This year’s Prison Awareness Sunday carries the theme, “Healing and transformation in the correctional community: Witnessed to by a synodal Church touched by God’s infinite love.”

Lirio said the Church must journey with inmates, correctional personnel, families and victims of crime, while allowing God to transform its own members.

“God’s infinite love reaches beyond prison walls” and can “heal hearts, restore hope, and transform lives,” he said. (CBCP News)

This article was originally published by CBCP News.