Chaplains bring God to inmates

First of a two-part series

Posted

CRANSTON — Even behind the multiple layers of security complete with iron bars, prison guards and video surveillance, the Gospel message is found with those society has punished for their actions thanks to the diocese’s Prison Ministry at the Adult Correctional Institutions.

Martha Paone, coordinator of Catholic Chaplaincy for the Diocese of Providence, encourages inmates at the ACI, which has six facilities for men and two for women, to build relationships with God and comforts prisoners and correctional officers amid strife.

Paone has served as coordinator of Catholic Chaplaincy at the ACI, Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals, the Rhode Island Training School and the Wyatt Detention Center since 2007. Paone began her ministry work at the ACI in 1994.

Paone schedules Catholic priests to celebrate Mass with inmates, coordinates eucharistic ministers and counsels prisoners and their families.

“My first commitment is to make sure inmates have religious services,” said Paone.

The ACI has an inmate population of more than 3,500, and Paone said she needs volunteers and priests who will help the inmates to grow spiritually and personally.

“We offer the hope of forgiveness — we listen to their problems non-judgmentally, and when possible encourage them to change their lives, keeping in mind that there are some who will be spending most of their lives here, if not all of their lives at the ACI,” said Paone.

Franciscan Father Michael Joyce, Columban Father John Buckley and Father José Camilo Cardenas Bonilla have answered the call to prison ministry.

Father Joyce has offered his holy guidance to men in the Maximum Security facility on Sunday mornings since 2002.

“What strikes me is that having Eucharist with these men is the same as with people in a parish community,” said Father Joyce.

“They are basically good guys who made mistakes and are paying for it,” he said.

More than 400 inmates are housed in Maximum Security and its population is comprised of prisoners serving lengthy sentences for various crimes, and those serving shorter sentences who have been transferred there from other parts of the prison for disciplinary reasons.

“I tell inmates serving life sentences that Jesus is their savior and he is with them in their cells and workshops,” Father Joyce emphasized. “They are cut off from their loved ones, but Jesus is with them and he is their hope.”

Father Buckley celebrates 8:30 Mass on Sunday mornings for the women living at the Gloria McDonald Awaiting Trial and Medium Security Facility.

Father Buckley also shared the Gospel message with prisoners in Peru for 14 years and Brazil for 12 years.

“I feel my mission is to let them know they are not abandoned by God, and they’re his children and through him they should keep their hopes and spirits up,” said Father Buckley.

“I try to be their friend and I want them to know that Christ is concerned about them and they are members of the Catholic Church,” said Father Buckley. “I want to show the women Christ is with us,” he said.

Father Cardenas Bonilla has been celebrating Mass with inmates on Wednesday evenings at the Minimum Security facility for male inmates for two years. He came to Rhode Island from Colombia five years ago, and ministers to Spanish-speaking Catholics at Blessed Sacrament Church in Providence.

“Some of the inmates try or plan to adopt new lifestyles, and develop discipline to attend church and read the Bible when they are released,” said Father Cardenas Bonilla.

Paone attends Mass periodically at Gloria McDonald celebrated by Father Buckley and visits Maximum Security often with Father Joyce as well. She counsels many of the inmates and correctional officers at both facilities as well.

In addition to coordinating Catholic chaplaincy services at the ACI, Paone coordinates services for all faiths at the Intake Center and Maximum Security facilities. “It takes more than 40 hours a week to do this ministry, and you couldn’t do it if you didn’t love it. It’s fulfilling to know every day that you have helped someone,” said Paone.

As part of her ministry, Paone works with wardens such as James Weeden in the Maximum Security facility and David McCauley at the Intake Service Center. “The chaplains are there for the staff as well, and the officers will talk to you if you have a good working relationship with them. There have been times when I have counseled officers and their spouses,” said Paone.

“The most challenging thing I have to do is call a family and tell them their loved one has died or to share with an inmate that someone they love has died, and they can’t have a furlough to visit the funeral home for the viewing,” said Paone.

“What prison ministries offer is hope. They can connect inmates to a force beyond the prison walls. Our religious volunteers serve out of compassion, and because their service comes from the heart, they can reach our inmates in very special ways. They offer the possibility of grace, redemption and forgiveness,” Wall wrote in an e-mail interview with the Rhode Island Catholic. Paone said Catholic chaplaincy at the ACI needs additional active or retired priests and eucharistic ministers.

“At the women’s facilities Communion services and Mass are on Sunday mornings and it is difficult to get volunteers then,” said Paone. Each facility at the ACI has an institutional chaplain who is responsible for addressing the spiritual needs of all inmates being held in that particular facility, and all the facilities serve the needs of the Catholic population, according to Paone.

The Intake Center, because of its limited space, security restrictions and high number of inmates, offers Communion services and Masses daily throughout the week in English and Spanish. It has Bible studies, Pentecostal services in Spanish and Islamic services as well.

Next week’s story will highlight Catholic ministries at the ACI from an inmates’ perspective.

Photo: Tracey E. Zeckhausen