P R A Y I N G W I T H T H E C H U R C H
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INTENTION : |
That all those who are in prison, and especially young people, may receive the necessary support from society to help them rediscover meaning in their lives.
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A detainee, once sentenced, immediately realizes that he/she is deprived of all freedom to participate in the life of free society. Detention spawns doubt, insecurity, anguish, agitation and tension and thus makes the sentence far heavier than the one inflicted by the law. He/she is stripped of a part of his/her identity and personality. All these breed frustration, helplessness, rage, apathy and the feeling of total dependence.
The most radical need for any person is to exist for someone, to be recognized. Young people in prison are victims of a lack of love. This feeling is disastrous for any person. These young people who have been traumatized by this deprivation is at the origin of a great deal of criminality. While society has to protect itself from criminality, it does not mean that they need not hear their cry or be listened to. Is there an answer to this heartfelt cry from the many young delinguents?
To love is the task of the Church and of society. And to love is to forgive. Who among us does not hope to have another chance in life and thus be given a renewed sense of his/her own existence? Prison must not be a place of punishment only, but one of re-humanisation too. A developed and cultivated society should help all its members to grow in humanity and wisdom.
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