Prison ministry, little noticed but requested, “helps people hear the voice of Christ”

CHICAGO (OSV News) — Catholic ministry work in prisons and jails has been carried out in the United States for decades, according to members of the Coalition of Catholic Prison Ministries. And those involved in the ministry have consistently said demand for this work remains high.

Even today, with the involvement of clergy, religious and lay volunteers, the coalition – the hub of all Catholic ministry efforts in prisons, jails and detentions across the United States – has found that the ministry received little attention from the benches.

OSV News looked at both prisons and prison ministries, starting with this profile of some Catholic services at one of the nation’s largest single-site prisons, Cook County Jail in Chicago.

When Jesuit Father Jeremiah Lynch heard “a construction noise” early in the morning outside his congregation’s home in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood, he opened the side door and didn’t expect to see two young men trying to saw parts of a vehicle parked in their plot. Then he heard gunshots and immediately turned to go back. A bullet narrowly missed his neck and pierced the wooden door, as did another.

It was in summer. In the fall, he admitted to OSV News that he was “still processing” what happened.

Noting the irony that he himself knew exactly what these guys were doing, Father Lynch said they fit the exact profile of some of the young men he looked after as a full-time chaplain at the Cook County Jail in Chicago.

“And what’s even more ironic is that I put people in jail for doing this over 30 years ago,” he said, referring to his career as county attorney of Cook before joining the Jesuits in 1994. “They make a lot more money. . They could make a lot more money in an hour than in a week, doing this kind of work.

Father Lynch, 74, said there was high demand for his stay in prison. He said he spends half his day counseling in the various prison divisions spread across 96 acres that currently house nearly 5,200 people, including about 250 women. Most of the population is waiting for their trial or the decision of their case.

The rest of the time, he makes mourning visits to lost family members “almost always, who have been killed” and distributes Bibles, the Koran and other prayer materials.

“A much higher percentage of them than, say, the average person of that age (18-30) in the general population had never really been listened to by anyone… or were afraid to go to the people in their lives because they didn’t have the psychological skills to deal with it. So they just… shut down. So to be listened to is a shock and a novelty for them,” said Father Lynch.

Mark McCombs said “the needs of the justice-involved community far exceed the services available.” He is executive director of Kolbe House, the prison ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago, located four blocks from the prison.

A former convict himself (for completing his attorney’s billing hours for a lobby client), McCombs told OSV News that Kolbe House covers a wide range of relief. There are secular services and support for those released, such as financial literacy classes, centering prayer, and discussions in the “The Chosen” online series, about the life of Jesus and his closest followers, for those awaiting trial.

He said prison ministry is “an important and interesting thing because it really helps people hear the voice of Christ…at a time when they desperately needed to try to find meaning in their lives,” he said. McCombs said. “They were brought to a place – it was like their lives had changed to the point where they woke up on Mars. They find themselves in a situation where they don’t know what to expect or how to navigate and they are trying to find meaning in their lives.

Father Lynch said that since he has been a prosecutor, he has seen a significant increase in the prison population of people without any connection to a father, and now, without any connection to a mother either. And he regularly hears about experiences of violence, trauma, abuse and other tragic life stories “coming from Edgar Allan Poe,” he said, referring to the 19th-century poet and short story writer famous for its psychological horror and macabre tales.

In this context, Father Lynch said he discerns whether a person in custody is truly ready to talk and how his sessions will be most helpful to them.

Sister Angèle Hinkey, Daughter of Charity, has been looking after the women’s side of the prison for 13 years. In addition to her chaplaincy, she paints and uses canvas to help women communicate their struggles.

Sister Angèle, 88, told OSV News that for two and a half hours she lent brushes and water-based oil paints to a woman and, without giving her an art lesson, she told her simply to “paint from the heart”. .”

“What I’m trying to do through this experience is kind of tap into these images that are stuck inside,” she said. “A lot of times, from their childhood, women’s childhood, and softening them up so that they feel comfortable or vulnerable enough to let them emerge. And they put them on the web.

Sister Angèle says that even during their temporary stays, the women who paint say they have acquired a feeling of freedom. And sometimes they open up enough to talk to him.

Jane Gubser, psychologist and executive director of the Cook County Jail, told OSV News that the department is essential to the institution’s daily operations because it helps “manage the population.”

“There’s no workbook,” Gubser said. “There is no computer program that I can put someone into that can understand the true healing process that a person can experience with a spiritual advisor, a priest, a chaplain, or someone who can provide comfort . And the truth is when people don’t have that and hope is completely lost, it creates a very scary and dangerous space for people.

Also read: Father Canterna receives the Dismas Prize for his tireless ministry in prison

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