Social Justice

A time for building bridges

Tuesday 4 September

By Sr Mary O’Shannassy SGS,
Kairos Catholic Journal

For everything there is a time. A time to be, a time to laugh, a time to give, a time to receive, a time to heal,
a time to seek, a time to build, a time to pull down.
Cf Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8


THE Australian Catholic Bishops Social Justice Statement for 2011-12, Building Bridges, Not Walls, invites us to consider our prison system and how society treats those who offend in our communities. In reading the bishops’ document we are challenged to ponder ways in which each of us can do our part in ‘building bridges’ to assist those who have been incarcerated to re-enter society as productive, responsible and caring citizens.

Since the days when the convicts came to Australia, the churches have had a ministry to the women and men in the prisons in Australia. Here in Victoria we have 13 prisons and only one transition centre to assist people in their re-entry back into society. The Catholic Prison Ministry Chaplaincy Team has chaplains and volunteers who attend all 13 prisons, extending from Beechworth in the north, Sale in the Gippsland area, Ararat and Castlemaine, to the six in the Metropolitan and Geelong areas.

At the Remand Centre there are the many residents who have short or longer stays while they await their court appearances. The Dame Phyllis Frost Centre for women, the Port Phillip Prison at Laverton, Barwon Prison and Marngoneet Correctional Centre near Geelong, Loddon Prison at Castlemaine and the Melbourne Assessment Prison, together with the Remand Centre and the Custody Centre, are all within the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

Our Eucharist in these places is the Paschal Mystery lived out in the lives of the residents, the women and men: on remand who according to the law are innocent until proven guilty; who have offended against another person yet many have also been sinned against; who suffer the indignity of being a number in a system where human dignity is challenged; who stand alone with little or no support; who have come as refugees to our country from war-torn countries; who have had little or no support from a significant other; and who come aside to what is like an oasis of peace, a sanctuary, within a potentially violent and destructive environment, to be with God and one another in prayer.

Together the hopes and dreams, the fears, the pain and trepidations, the guilt and sinfulness of all are brought to be offered and transformed:
Bless and approved our offering … make it acceptable to you …This is My Body which will be given up for you. … This is My Blood … it will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. … Keep us attentive to the needs of all that, sharing their grief and pain, their joys and hope, we may faithfully bring them the good news of salvation.
Eucharistic Prayer for
Various Needs III

Save us, O Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.
Acclamation

In community, in prayer, in song, glory and praise is given to our God by the broken Body of Christ, the Church in prisons.
Volunteers are a very important part of the Prison Chaplaincy Team. They join the Worship and Hospitality Group for Masses in the prisons on a monthly or fortnightly roster. Here we come together as a worshipping community—celebrant, Catholic chaplains, and the volunteer members from suburban and country parishes, who form the core faith community at the different prisons.

The prisoners are most grateful to people who give some of their time to join with them for Mass and prayer. Being present with them in this way and engaging with them in conversation over a cuppa after Mass offers them an opportunity to engage in conversation with adults of various backgrounds. This can help them in refining their relational skills as well as encouraging thinking outside the prison culture. For those of us who visit the prisoners we can also gain insights that could enable us to have an educative role within the community, without breaching confidentiality, in an informal way, with those we meet each day. Bridge building in a very concrete way.

Sr Mary O’Shannassy SGS is Director,
Catholic Prison Ministry Victoria.