Pope Leo XIV Meets with 3 Prisoners Permitted to Make a Pilgrimage for the Jubilee and Receives a Special Gift!
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Pope Leo XIV met with pilgrims who had traveled partially by foot to the Vatican for the Jubilee. Among them was three prisoners of the Veneto capital who were granted permission to make a pilgrimage to Rome, from Terni.
"A very cordial, very fraternal, informal meeting. There were no prepared speeches." Patriarch of Venice Francesco Moraglia recounted to Vatican media the audience granted today, August 7, in the Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace by Leo XIV to a group of pilgrims, including three inmates from the Santa Maria Maggiore prison in Venice, who arrived in Rome yesterday from Terni, where they continued on foot for five days to the capital.
The Patriarch of Venice, Francesco Moraglia said: "Our imprisoned friends must strive to overcome a history that has marked them, from which they can redeem themselves, starting every day in the very places where they are held." The prison director recounts his meeting with Leo XIV: "An intense, authentic, profoundly human experience. Prison is not just a limitation, but a bridge."
The three inmates, the bishop explained, were under restricted confinement and were able to avail themselves of the magistrate's permission to enjoy an experience of great value for their journey of redemption and liberation. Also present at the meeting with the Pope, which took place after passing through the Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica, were the chaplain of the men's prison, Don Massimo Cadamuro, the prison director, Enrico Farina, the Episcopal Vicar in charge of charitable work, Monsignor Fabrizio Favaro, and the director of Caritas Venice, Franco Sensini.
The Patriarch of Venice reports the encouragement he received from the Pope, in light of the gifts the inmates offered the Pontiff: a diary, a diary of their recent walking journey, and the magazine the inmates publish in their prisons. The diocese donated a chalice, a paten by the master glassmakers of Murano depicting the Madonna Nicopeia, kept in the Basilica of St. Mark. "The powerful call," the Patriarch emphasizes, quoting Leo XIV, "is that of a redemption that concerns society, individuals, history, relationships with others, but also concerns one's own soul, one's relationship with God. Our imprisoned friends must strive to overcome a history that has marked them, from which they must redeem themselves, not in the future when they are released, but starting daily within prison. The Pope, according to the Patriarch, emphasized precisely this dimension." The brief exchange with each of the participants was touching, Moraglia continues, and they will be able to have a photo to keep in their cell.
The Patriarch dwells further on what the Pope told them about redemption, a journey that concerns the whole person, he reports. "He added that this Jubilee journey," Moraglia continues, "must remain a fixed point for looking to a future they must build right now, in these years in which they are completing a journey of justice, I would say, also towards society."
An intense, authentic, and profoundly human experience. This is how prison director Enrico Farina described it after the meeting with the Pope. He emphasized its significance as a "symbolic goal" but also as a "stage of awareness and rebirth. Their eyes spoke louder than a thousand words: wonder, gratitude." Farina expressed his profound conviction that prison is a bridge, not just a limitation: "This journey is proof of that." He also emphasized the fact that this opportunity was not a reward, "but the fruit of serious, long, and shared work. A concrete step toward that constitutional and Christian mission that guides us every day: to offer those who desire it a real chance at redemption."
In recent years, the patriarch further specifies, the diocese has sought to strengthen its activities in prison "to ensure that these people, who have certainly made mistakes, can be helped to embark on a journey that is not just about closeness and solidarity in words, but also involves concrete planning." The Church of Venice is seeking housing, thanks to the local Caritas , at the Casa San Giuseppe in the historic center, which "has eight mini-apartments for female inmates, allowing them to benefit from a residential facility, which is a prerequisite for obtaining an employment contract. These facilities are a springboard for pursuing work, and work means stimulating a person. The Basilica of San Marco, adds the prelate, and the forty artistic churches of Venice have offered to employ, with regular contracts, in accordance with the law, those inmates who have met the legal requirements to be eligible for alternative punishments: thus, they benefit from spaces and time outside of prison. I believe that all of this," he concludes, "is part of a Christian vision that cares about all aspects of the world."
Source: Vatican News ITThe three inmates, the bishop explained, were under restricted confinement and were able to avail themselves of the magistrate's permission to enjoy an experience of great value for their journey of redemption and liberation. Also present at the meeting with the Pope, which took place after passing through the Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica, were the chaplain of the men's prison, Don Massimo Cadamuro, the prison director, Enrico Farina, the Episcopal Vicar in charge of charitable work, Monsignor Fabrizio Favaro, and the director of Caritas Venice, Franco Sensini.
The Patriarch of Venice reports the encouragement he received from the Pope, in light of the gifts the inmates offered the Pontiff: a diary, a diary of their recent walking journey, and the magazine the inmates publish in their prisons. The diocese donated a chalice, a paten by the master glassmakers of Murano depicting the Madonna Nicopeia, kept in the Basilica of St. Mark. "The powerful call," the Patriarch emphasizes, quoting Leo XIV, "is that of a redemption that concerns society, individuals, history, relationships with others, but also concerns one's own soul, one's relationship with God. Our imprisoned friends must strive to overcome a history that has marked them, from which they must redeem themselves, not in the future when they are released, but starting daily within prison. The Pope, according to the Patriarch, emphasized precisely this dimension." The brief exchange with each of the participants was touching, Moraglia continues, and they will be able to have a photo to keep in their cell.
The Patriarch dwells further on what the Pope told them about redemption, a journey that concerns the whole person, he reports. "He added that this Jubilee journey," Moraglia continues, "must remain a fixed point for looking to a future they must build right now, in these years in which they are completing a journey of justice, I would say, also towards society."
An intense, authentic, and profoundly human experience. This is how prison director Enrico Farina described it after the meeting with the Pope. He emphasized its significance as a "symbolic goal" but also as a "stage of awareness and rebirth. Their eyes spoke louder than a thousand words: wonder, gratitude." Farina expressed his profound conviction that prison is a bridge, not just a limitation: "This journey is proof of that." He also emphasized the fact that this opportunity was not a reward, "but the fruit of serious, long, and shared work. A concrete step toward that constitutional and Christian mission that guides us every day: to offer those who desire it a real chance at redemption."
In recent years, the patriarch further specifies, the diocese has sought to strengthen its activities in prison "to ensure that these people, who have certainly made mistakes, can be helped to embark on a journey that is not just about closeness and solidarity in words, but also involves concrete planning." The Church of Venice is seeking housing, thanks to the local Caritas , at the Casa San Giuseppe in the historic center, which "has eight mini-apartments for female inmates, allowing them to benefit from a residential facility, which is a prerequisite for obtaining an employment contract. These facilities are a springboard for pursuing work, and work means stimulating a person. The Basilica of San Marco, adds the prelate, and the forty artistic churches of Venice have offered to employ, with regular contracts, in accordance with the law, those inmates who have met the legal requirements to be eligible for alternative punishments: thus, they benefit from spaces and time outside of prison. I believe that all of this," he concludes, "is part of a Christian vision that cares about all aspects of the world."
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