VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis held a special Jubilee Mass for prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, bringing a message of mercy and hope to inmates from around the world.
Wearing green robes and a white skull cap, Francis stood before a congregation made up of some 1,000 prisoners from 12 countries and their families, as well as prison chaplains and volunteers who work in prisons. The event was part of the Vatican’s Holy Year of Mercy, which comes to an end later this month.
“Today we celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy for you and with you, our brothers and sisters who are imprisoned,” he told them.
He said while breaking the law involves paying the price, “hope must never falter.”
“Sometimes, a certain hypocrisy leads to people considering you only as wrongdoers, for whom prison is the sole answer,” Francis said in his homily. “We don’t think about the possibility that people can change their lives. We put little trust in rehabilitation. But in this way we forget that we are all sinners and often, without being aware of it, we too are prisoners.”