Praying for prisoners

(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."