Prison Ministry -- Can We Network?
By Fr. Christian N. Reuter, O.F.M.
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 Prison ministry is not only last in Jesus' checklist
(Mt. 25); it is frequently near the end of Church priorities. We are more
efficient and effective with food and clothing distribution than we are with
attending the incarcerated should time and resources permit. Our overall
delivery of pastoral services is spotty and inconsistent, sometimes absent
altogether. Church law, however, is clear about our obligations to prisoners and
the need to embrace them as full Church members (Canons 564-572, 771).
In addition to the built-in challenges of this
ministry, there are good reasons for our shortcomings. The sheer size of the
prison populations, estimated at 2.2 million nationally, is overwhelming. We are
all painfully aware, moreover, of the demands placed on our ordained ministers;
and we have not recruited and trained enough lay ministers for this special
work. Departments of corrections, too, are often not helpful and encouraging.
My own work in southern Illinois is illustrative of
the isolation of Catholic prison ministers. Our diocese covers the state's 28
southernmost counties, and these hold a dozen major correctional facilities.
Most of the inmates are African Americans and Hispanics from northern parts of
Illinois. I estimate that we have close to 20,000 prisoners in our diocese alone
and that 15 to 18 percent are Catholics. Most of them are not well served by the
Church.
Inmates are transferred in and out with some
frequency, and the typical sentence will be served in multiple dioceses. This
transience makes it difficult to maintain continuity in sacramental preparations
and other forms of pastoral care. More often than not, I have no idea who are my
counterparts in the other five dioceses, much less any ways to communicate. Our
bishops preside over "the Catholic Conference of Illinois", but so far we have
no statewide linkage at my level.
Therefore I've been trying to urge the establishment
of a "Catholic Prison Ministry Network" for the state of Illinois. Distance and
isolation are no longer excuses in this electronic age. Surely prison ministers
in some of the other 49 states have these same experiences, and perhaps some are
already networking. I've started to inquire through professional chaplains'
associations, and I want to do the same through the National Black Catholic
Congress. I will be grateful to hear from you.
Christian Reuter is a Franciscan priest and serves
as Prison Ministry Coordinator in the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois. Send mail
to P.O. Box 398, East St. Louis, IL 62202-0398. Telephone 618-482-5570 (voice)
or 618-482-5574 (fax). Email to cnreuter@yahoo.com.
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