(Vatican Radio) "Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for the month of August
is "that prisoners may be treated with justice and respect for their human dignity."
But prisoners have little voice and their plight is rarely in the public eye. In
the UK, the prison population has more than doubled over the past two decades and
figures show that the nation incarcerates more of its population than any other country
in Western Europe.
So, what is the current situation really like for prisoners
held behind bars in Britain? To gain an inside view , Vatican Radio's Susy Hodges
spoke to Monsignor Malachy Keegan who has worked as a prison chaplain for over 15
years and who is the Catholic Bishops' Prisons Adviser.
Listen to the extended
interview with Monsignor Keegan:
He says he's
"delighted" with the choice of the Holy Father's prayer focus for August and recalled
how during the Pope's visit to a Rome prison last year he told the inmates "he carried
them in his heart."
Asked why Britain incarcerates a higher proportion of
its population compared to other western European nations, Monsignor Keegan says he
believes it is due to "a very punitive way of responding to offending behaviour."(in
the UK). Often, he says, "there are alternatives to custodial sentences" such as
"community-pay-back schemes." He goes on to talk about the "huge numbers of people
in UK prisons" with mental health problems and says sometimes these problems can
even be triggered by the often overcrowded conditions in which they are held.
When
it comes to a prisoner's faith life, Monsignor Keegan says often the only thing that
remains "is their faith and it becomes very important to them." Although prison can
be "a brutal and often inhumane experience," he says that often "peoples' hearts
open to the word of God like never before in their lives." He also tells of a " wonderful
conversion experience" undergone by a prisoner he knows who was convicted of murder
and who now "reads the Divine Office every day," has a theology degree and who after
his imminent release wants "to care for other people" and help people "to discover
God."