Prison Apostolates?

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Does anyone know of any good Catholic resources for prisoners, or have loved ones doing time? I do.
 
Call the prison and ask for the Chaplain’s office. Hopefully they will have several chaplains, including a Catholic priest.

Frequently prisons have a rule that books must be shipped directly from the publisher.
 
For inspirational reading in prison it would be hard to beat the story of Joan of Arc.

I recommend “Joan of Arc by Herself and her Witnesses” by the famous Joan scholar Regine Pernoud.
Pernoud gives a very complete description of Joan’s complicated story and many quotes from her trial. She is objective, neither sugarcoating the story nor giving it some political slant to meet her own agenda as so many writers do. She simply presents the facts according to the historitcal records, and you make you own judgement.
 
I’ve done a few months for pro-life work. It’s rather boring and the mentality of the rest of the prisoners is about 10 years old.

I don’t know what the situation is with your relatives but I can tell you that the girls adored having my priest visit with them. They liked the one on one time and the Catholic ones acutally like going to confession. A priest can usually get into a minimum security place with little or no problem whenever they have time. I’m not sure about higher security places. You can actually become a EMCH for jails but you have to go through training.

Inmates can receive books that come directly from a publisher. You might consider sending your relative Magnificat. I’m not sure of the mental capability of your relative to read apologetic books. I found this wouldn’t have been that beneficial to start out with with the gals I was in with. 95% of the people there were there on drug charges. Not a lot of white collar crime or highly intelligent folks. If your relative is like the ones I was in with, you might actually want to start our with saint stories such as those for older children at Bethlehem books. It would be something more to break up the serious boredom factor. It’s either that or they can watch WWW wrestling which I swear was on 24/7. In other words, try to catch them with the cool stories before moving onto catechism stuff. Of course, if your relative is fairly well educated then the Joan of Arc book sounds great and they might enjoy more challenging books.

Mail is also a treasured commodity. If you can write your relative or even maybe find a priest to send mail a few times a week, they will really appreciate this. Most of the people there don’t have much else to focus on except what a boring, depressing life they have. They like to feel part of the better world.
 
Word Among Us has a prison ministry, where your donation can provide multiple copies of this devotional guide to daily scripture readings to prisoners. wordamongus.com

in our town is the city jail, county jail, federal prison, state prison, juvenile detention facility, boot camp and women’s detention facility, as well as immigration detention center for illegals. Prisons are a huge growing big business in Texas. Prison ministry is a big commitment and imortant pastoral outreach in this diocese. All 3 parishes and 5 missions in our town have prison ministry outreach, which is coordinated for training and effectiveness. huge need is bibles and new testaments that meet prison requirements, which are available at low cost from American Bible Society in Catholic editions, english and spanish (contact them directly because they have special pricing for prison ministry)

prison population accounts for a goodly proportion of RCIA and sacramental program participants here. we also try to run our youth programs with an agenda of reaching them here and now before they become a prison statistic
 
I did time, 7 years and I reccomend the Catholic Home Study series from Fr. Oscar Lukefahr that we talked about earlier. There are all kinds of resources, and parishes often are more than willing to supply some materials.

Bear 6 - makes it sound like most prisoners are stupid, at least that is how I read it. While I was in, I read the Summa, Confessions, and a lot from Catholci Answers. I did this becaus eI was attacked for my faith and did not have the answers. While I had these materials, many of my brothers in blue borrowed them, even some of my attackers. Conversitions happen in there when they are revelaed to the truth. If someone can’t understand a book or something, they always ask. It was true in the 2 prisons I was at, I’m pretty confident that it would be true in others, humans are more alike than they are different!
 
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Dismas2004:
I did time, 7 years and I reccomend the Catholic Home Study series from Fr. Oscar Lukefahr that we talked about earlier. There are all kinds of resources, and parishes often are more than willing to supply some materials.

Bear 6 - makes it sound like most prisoners are stupid, at least that is how I read it. While I was in, I read the Summa, Confessions, and a lot from Catholci Answers. I did this becaus eI was attacked for my faith and did not have the answers. While I had these materials, many of my brothers in blue borrowed them, even some of my attackers. Conversitions happen in there when they are revelaed to the truth. If someone can’t understand a book or something, they always ask. It was true in the 2 prisons I was at, I’m pretty confident that it would be true in others, humans are more alike than they are different!
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Now, now, I did qualify my response with the fact that it was my experience and that Church Militant would have to judge the mental capability of his/her relative. The fact is that the girls I was in with were 95% there on drug charges (and yes, I did talk to them all) and others were there on petty theft or prostitution. The fact is that the giving them the Summa would have been like giving it to a 9 year old. They say that a person’s mental growth is stunted at the age they start doing drugs (at least that’s what he drug and alcohol rehad classes taught!). For most, this was very young. Too much to chew and no, there wasn’t anyone to ask. The only reason priests came was because I was there. That’s California for you!

Well, the point is that you have to take the prisoner at hand into consideration.
 
One thing prisoners have plenty of is time. If they don’t have education they can make up for it by applying lots of time to a project.

I recall the story of the Bird Man of Alcatraz. Over many years he became an expert of sorts on birds, about which he knew nothing upon entering prison. ( The Burt Lancaster movie downplayed the Bird Man’s knowledge. )

Then there was the man who invented the Winchester rifle. It’s firing pin only traveled a small fraction of an inch instead of a longer distance. This was a major advance in gunnery. He built the prototype in the prison machine shop. Took him years to do it, but he did it, and it helped him get early release. ( Jimmy Stewart starred in the movie. )

Many prisoners got college and law school degrees in prison.

Prisoners have become great artists in prison.

I have a wallet which I’ve been using for twenty-five years. It was made by prisoners in Thomaston Prison, Thomaston, Maine ( now closed ). What department store wallet lasts five years?

Imagine you had ten years with nothing to do. What could you achieve if you adopted a project and stuck with it day after day after day? I don’t envy the prisoners incarceration, but I do envy their opportunity to learn some entirely new vocation.
By the way. The Joan of Arc book I recommended is not an easy read. It takes concentration. But so does the Bible. Prisoners have time to absorb an encyclopedia… Just read ten pages a day and in a month you’ve done a book.
 
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asquared:
Word Among Us has a prison ministry, where your donation can provide multiple copies of this devotional guide to daily scripture readings to prisoners. wordamongus.com

in our town is the city jail, county jail, federal prison, state prison, juvenile detention facility, boot camp and women’s detention facility, as well as immigration detention center for illegals. Prisons are a huge growing big business in Texas. Prison ministry is a big commitment and imortant pastoral outreach in this diocese. All 3 parishes and 5 missions in our town have prison ministry outreach, which is coordinated for training and effectiveness. huge need is bibles and new testaments that meet prison requirements, which are available at low cost from American Bible Society in Catholic editions, english and spanish (contact them directly because they have special pricing for prison ministry)

prison population accounts for a goodly proportion of RCIA and sacramental program participants here. we also try to run our youth programs with an agenda of reaching them here and now before they become a prison statistic
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secondexodus.com/html/russford/russfordbio.htm

I am also involved in prison ministry and this is what I do…on a very small scale…one of the best books available on Catechism is 'The The Missionary’s Catechism by Russ Ford.
 
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bear06:
Mail is also a treasured commodity. If you can write your relative or even maybe find a priest to send mail a few times a week, they will really appreciate this. Most of the people there don’t have much else to focus on except what a boring, depressing life they have. They like to feel part of the better world.
Click to expand...
I know this from being in military boot camp, actually… mail can be a BIG DEAL when your daily life is routine and devoid of pleasant diversion. And, it’s funny that you should bring this up… I have had this strange urge to become a pen-pal with a prison inmate because it’s one of the Corporal Acts of Mercy that most normal people never do. When I say “Pen Pal” I don’t mean writing to some con artist and falling in love with him - I mean writing to a female inmate, via the chaplain, so that my identity will be concealed. I don’t particularly want to overtly evangelize, even… I just think people enjoy getting letters in the mail and it could be nice to do that for someone.

I want to do it via a chaplain so that my identity and address can be concealed - that would be safer. Hmmmm… I wonder how to do it?
 
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katybird:
I know this from being in military boot camp, actually… mail can be a BIG DEAL when your daily life is routine and devoid of pleasant diversion. And, it’s funny that you should bring this up… I have had this strange urge to become a pen-pal with a prison inmate because it’s one of the Corporal Acts of Mercy that most normal people never do. When I say “Pen Pal” I don’t mean writing to some con artist and falling in love with him - I mean writing to a female inmate, via the chaplain, so that my identity will be concealed. I don’t particularly want to overtly evangelize, even… I just think people enjoy getting letters in the mail and it could be nice to do that for someone.

I want to do it via a chaplain so that my identity and address can be concealed - that would be safer. Hmmmm… I wonder how to do it?
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secondexodus.com/html/russford/firstcenturychristianministries.htm

Become a anonymous spiritual pen pal for a Catholic Prisoner: Write to FCCM c/o Joseph Strada, 5120 Pheasant Ridge Rd., Fairfax, VA 22030, for Pen Pal Guidelines.
 
Wow folks, thanks for all the (name removed by moderator)ut. Especially you Aimee. God bless you in your work w/the guys.
There is also
Catholic Prison Ministry
P.O.Box 1326
Nipomo, Ca 93444 A wonderful lady named Dolores Keith who sends lots of stuff to our guys.
One serious need is for Catholic Bibles…not those Good News things.
Most Catholic guys are smart enough to read the NAB or RSV CE or even Douay-Rheims w/o much problem.
The level of anti-Catholicism in prisons would offend any decent Catholic…in prison or not. F.B. Prison programs are good, but they’re run by fundies which means our guys get all kinds of teaching that doesn’t jibe w/ the Church. Nothin’ new there though.
 
Thank you AMEE!!!

I’m going to write to that guy and, hopefully, be a penpal! It looks to be exactly what I’ve been thinking of for the past year!

xoxoKaty
 
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katybird:
Thank you AMEE!!!

I’m going to write to that guy and, hopefully, be a penpal! It looks to be exactly what I’ve been thinking of for the past year!

xoxoKaty
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Let me know what happens 🙂
 
Church Militant:
Wow folks, thanks for all the (name removed by moderator)ut. Especially you Aimee. God bless you in your work w/the guys.
There is also
Catholic Prison Ministry
P.O.Box 1326
Nipomo, Ca 93444 A wonderful lady named Dolores Keith who sends lots of stuff to our guys.
One serious need is for Catholic Bibles…not those Good News things.
Most Catholic guys are smart enough to read the NAB or RSV CE or even Douay-Rheims w/o much problem.
The level of anti-Catholicism in prisons would offend any decent Catholic…in prison or not. F.B. Prison programs are good, but they’re run by fundies which means our guys get all kinds of teaching that doesn’t jibe w/ the Church. Nothin’ new there though.
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I sent you another pm as your email address sent email back to me.
I agree with your post…the guys are smart 👍 and sometimes very crafty :rolleyes:
God Bless
 
FWIW while prisoners may not be unintelligent, the reality is that they are probably less than literate. I am on the board of a state adult literacy program and the corelation between lack of literacy and being on the justice system’s radar screen is frightening. I definitely think prisoners need their souls attended to but a good literacy program would help them engage in these studies more competently.

The comment about most being in on drug charges is also sadly true. We must learn what draws these people to drugs in the first place and reduce the demand as we will never stop the supply. Just my two cents.

Lisa N
 
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