NOTE: Sept 18,2015…With the Pope visiting the U.S. this week, I think his statements in regard to incarceration and imprisonment are extraordinary and extremely timely as the nation looks at the issues leading to overpopulated prisons.
Pope Francis,in a talk with Italian Prison Chaplains called for a more humane justice system, saying God too was “a prisoner” of the world’s injustices and was in every cell. Rather than write about the Pope’s words, here are his extraordinary words as spoken::
“God is a prisoner too. He is inside the cell,”
He is a prisoner of our egoism, of our systems, of the many injustices… that punish the weak while the big fish swim freely,”
“You have spoken of a justice system for reconciliation, a justice system of hope, of open doors, of new horizons,” he said. “This is no utopia. It can happen,”
“Thinking about this is good for me: When we have the same weakness, why did they fall and I didn’t? This is a mystery that makes me pray and draws me to prisoners,”
“No cell is so isolated that it can keep the Lord out. “He is there. He cries with them, works with them, hopes with them. His paternal and maternal love arrives everywhere.”
“He, too, is imprisoned today, imprisoned in our selfishness, our systems, and many injustices because it’s easy to punish the weakest, but the big fish swim free.”