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Visiting inmates at Rebibbia prison, one of Italy’s toughest prisons, on Monday, Pope Benedict told the inmates people are awful to him too.
“People speak ferociously even against the Pope, but nonetheless we have to move on,” the pontiff said.
Despite the surroundings and a hectic Christmas schedule, Pope Benedict looked to be in good form.
Sympathic to their situation, Pope Benedict told prisoners that overcrowding in prisons was “double sentence” and whatever their offence it could not erase their dignity.
“I know that overcrowding and degradation in prison can make detention even more bitter,” he told representatives of several hundred inmates of the prison, which has 500 more inmates than the 1,240 it was built to hold.
“Prisoners are human beings who are worthy, despite their crime, of being treated with respect and dignity,” he said.
“I know that you live in a very difficult situation that often, instead of helping to renew your friendship with God and humanity, makes the situation worse,” he told a prisoner named Rocco who asked him if politicians knew what prisoners endure.
Benedict greeted personally a number of prisoners and answered their questions, unscripted, for about half an hour.
He heard one African, Omar, speak of “our suffering and that of our families.” Another African, Okai, asked: “Does God listen only to the rich?”
An Italian inmate named Federico complained that inmates who are HIV positive are looked at “ferociously.”
One prisoner read “The prayer from behind bars” which he had composed.
Benedict’s visit to the prison happened just two days after Italy’s new government announced extraordinary measures to improve prison conditions.
Sources
- CNS
- Reuters
- Associated Press
- Image: NewsDaily
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News category: World.
