VATICAN CITY, JUN 30, 2000 (VIS) - John Paul II has requested a "gesture of clemency towards all those in prison" to be translated, in concrete terms, into a reduction of sentence. These are the words he uses in his message for the Jubilee in Prisons which will be held on July 9. On that day, the Pope will visit Rome's "Regina Coeli" prison.
In the 10-page message, which is dated June 24, the Pope continues a Holy Year tradition begun by his predecessors, appealing to State authorities for a "a reduction, even a modest one, of the term of punishment" for prisoners. Such a reduction "would be for prisoners a clear sign of sensitivity to their condition, and would surely evoke a positive echo in their hearts and encourage them to regret the evil done and lead them to personal repentance."
"Acceptance of this proposal by the competent authorities would not only encourage prisoners to look to the future with new hope but would also be an eloquent sign, at the dawn of the Third Christian Millennium."
The Pope affirms that: "On each occasion the celebration of a Holy Year has been an opportunity for the Church and the world to do something in favor of justice, in the light of the Gospel. Jubilees have been an incentive for the community to reconsider human justice. ... It is not a question of an automatic or purely cosmetic application of acts of clemency. This would not affect the essence of things: once the Jubilee is over the situation would return to the way it was. ... Those States and governments which are already engaged in or are planning to undertake a review of their prison system in order to bring it more into line with the requirements of the human person should be encouraged to continue in such an important task. This includes giving more consideration to penalties other than imprisonment.
"To make prison life more human it is more important than ever to take practical steps to enable prisoners as far as possible to engage in work which keeps them from the degrading effects of idleness. ... Nor should the psychological assistance which can help resolve personality problems be overlooked. Prison should not be a corrupting experience, a place of idleness and even vice, but instead a place of redemption."
"The Jubilee reminds us that time belongs to God. Even time in prison does not escape God's dominion. Public authorities who deprive human beings of their personal freedom as the law requires, bracketing off as it were a longer or shorter part of their life, must realize that they are not masters of the prisoners' time. In the same way, those who are in detention must not live as if their time in prison had been taken from them completely: even time in prison is God's time."
"At times prison life runs the risk of depersonalizing individuals, because it deprives them of so many opportunities for self-expression. But they must remember that before God this is not so. The Jubilee is time for the person, when each one is himself before God, in His image and likeness."
"The Jubilee is about change. The Old Testament Jubilee year 'was meant to restore equality among all the children of Israel, offering new possibilities to families which had lost their property and even their personal freedom.' ... The Holy Year must be used as a chance to right injustices committed, to mitigate excesses, and to recover what might otherwise be lost."
John Paul II indicates that "to celebrate the Jubilee means to strive to find new paths of redemption in every personal and social situation, even if the situation seems desperate. This is even more obvious with regard to prison life: not to promote the interests of prisoners would be to make imprisonment a mere act of vengeance on the part of society, provoking only hatred in the prisoners themselves.
"If the Great Jubilee is a chance for those in prison to reflect upon their situation, the same may be said of civil society as a whole, ... of the authorities ... and of those in the legal profession."
"These issues have been addressed often enough in history, and substantial progress has been made in conforming the penal system both to the dignity of the human person and to the effective maintenance of public order. But the unease and strains felt in the complex world of the administration of justice and, even more, the suffering attached to prison life show that there is still much to be done."
"Imprisonment as punishment is as old as human history. In many countries, prisons are very overcrowded. ... What is clear to all is that this kind of punishment generally succeeds only in part in addressing the phenomenon of crime. In fact, in some cases detention seems to create more problems than it solves. This must prompt rethinking with a view to some kind of reform."
"A strong appeal of this kind comes from the countless prisons throughout the world, in which millions of our brothers and sisters are held. Above all they call for a review of prison structures, and in some cases a revision of penal law. Regulations contrary to the dignity and fundamental rights of the human person should be definitively abolished from national legislation, as should laws which deny prisoners religious freedom. There will also have to be a review of prison regulations where they give insufficient attention to those who have serious or terminal illnesses. Likewise, institutions offering legal protection to the poor must be further developed.
"But even in cases where legislation is satisfactory, much suffering comes to prisoners from other sources. I am referring in particular to the wretched state of some of the places of detention where prisoners are forced to live, and the harassment to which they are sometimes subjected because of ethnic, social, economic, sexual, political and religious discrimination. Sometimes prisons can become places of violence resembling the places from which the inmates not infrequently come. Clearly this nullifies any attempt to educate through imprisonment.
"People in prison also find it difficult to maintain regular contact with their families and loved ones, and structures intended to help those leaving prison in their re-entry into society are often seriously flawed."
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