By Christopher Wells
Three inmates from Venice’s Santa Maria Maggiore Prison are among a group of pilgrims received by Pope Leo on Thursday at the Vatican. The group’s Jubilee pilgrimage of almost 500 kilometers included traversing the final hundred kilometers, from the Italian town of Terni to Rome, on foot.
The pilgrims were accompanied to the audience by the Patriarch of Venice, Archbishop Francesco Moraglia; and prison chaplain Father Massimo Cadamuro, along with other archdiocesan officials.
Ahead of the audience, Father Cadamuro said, “The meeting with Pope Leo truly brings to completion this experience of ours, a journey and a pilgrimage, undertaken entirely under the banner of a trustworthy hope, which represents a necessary dimension for the authentic life of all people, both free and incarcerated. Having been able to undertake this pilgrimage together makes everything stronger, truer, more authentic.”
Enrico Farina, the Director of the Santa Maria Maggiore Prison, was also present on Thursday. In remarks prior to the audience, he said, the opportunity to allow inmates to take part “in an intense human and spiritual journey” fills him “with pride.” He noted, too, that the inmates will be given a blank diary containing reflections and prayers inspired by “this deeply meaningful journey,” and said he was honoured to share the moment with the pilgrims.
Following on from a Jubilee audience for seminarians from Venice and the surrounding area in June, Thursday’s encounter is “another great gift from Pope Leo,” who accepted the inmates request for an audience at the end of their pilgrimage, according to Archbishop Moraglia.
The Patriarch of Venice said the pilgrimage and audience with the Pope “is an experience that—I am certain—will leave an indelible mark on the soul, life, and story of these inmates, of the staff and volunteers who are accompanying them, and also of all those who are committed to diocesan ministry directed toward prisons and the reintegration of male and female inmates into social life.”
The Jubilee pilgrimage, along with the opportunity to meet with Pope Leo, is part of the Archdiocese of Venice’s “ongoing and comprehensive commitment” to pastoral care of inmates in local prisons. As part of that commitment, Archbishop Moraglia has meet in recent weeks with Italy’s Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, to discuss the state of prisons in and around Venice, as well as efforts to reintegrate inmates into civil society following completion of their sentences. – Vatican News
