Mass (and) Incarceration

When Pope Francis arrives in the United States tomorrow (hooray!), his schedule will be packed. Each meeting and location has been thoughtfully selected from myriad alternatives to shape a message about the Church and the Gospel.

As several commentators have noticed, one of the places where Pope Francis will be spending his time is the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, where he will meet and pray with prisoners. The facility highlights much of the brokenness in American corrections, from high rates of pretrial detention of the indigent to conditions of confinement that defy basic notions of decency. The Pope' s presence in that place, with those suffering in it, amplifies the message he is sending in preparation for the Year of Mercy: namely, that "[n]o one can be excluded from the mercy of God; everyone knows the way to access it and the Church is the house that welcomes all and refuses no one. Its doors remain wide open, so that those who are touched by grace can find the certainty of forgiveness."

In this post, Professor Cara Drinan expands on the Pope's concern for prisoners, and places his visit in the larger context of criminal justice reform in the United States today.