ARCHBISHOP FOLEY CELEBRATES JUBILEE FOR PRISONERS IN U.S.

VATICAN CITY, JUL 11, 2000 (VIS) - Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, was in the United States this past weekend where, on Sunday, July 9 he preached the homily at a Mass for the Jubilee of Prisoners at the State Correctional Institution in Graterford, Pennsylvania.

The archbishop, in his homily published yesterday afternoon, confessed to the inmates that he had "never before been inside a prison. I have visited places which have become museums. I have been in the slave labor camps of Auschwitz and Dachau and I have seen the gas chambers of Birkenau. ... I have failed, however, in not responding to the exhortation of Jesus to visit those who are in prison. For this I apologize to you." He thanked those who had invited him "to make amends for this sin of omission in my life and to visit with you today."

"Those in prison," he said, "look back with regret or remorse to the days when they were free and they experience their time now as a burden which never seems to pass. In this difficult situation, a strong experience of faith can greatly help in finding the inner balance which every human being needs. This is one reason why the Jubilee is so relevant to prison life: the experience of the Jubilee lived behind bars can open up unexpected human and spiritual vistas."

In closing, Archbishop Foley told the prisoners: "When I informed the Holy Father that I was coming to Graterford today, he sent me cards with his signature to be distributed to each one. ... Please believe me when I say you are in his thoughts and prayers."

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