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A revitalized prison ministry in the Diocese of Calgary has seen more than 20 people volunteer for the service.
Register file photo
November 28, 2024
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OSV News photo/courtesy Franciscan University of Steubenville
Revitalization is in the air for the Diocese of Calgary Prison Ministry.
Deacon Thomas Ha, who has shared the Liturgy of the Word with the incarcerated for over 15 years, said between 20 and 23 Catholics are currently engaged in this ministry, a stunning growth considering that as few as four volunteers visited the Calgary Young Offenders Centre, Calgary Remand Centre and the Calgary Correctional Centre during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dwindling awareness of, and participation in, this ministry was at work before the epidemic, said Ha, but the public health restrictions especially stymied efforts to rebuild the ranks.
What reversed the decline? Ha said advertisements posted in the Catholic Pastoral Centre’s Faithfully diocesan newsletter enkindled interest.
“I told (Moderator of the Curia) Fr. Wilbert (Chin Jon) that we needed to advertise,” said Ha, who also serves St. Luke’s Church. “Nobody knew if it was going to work, but we began to receive inquiries. People were interested to find out more and we began to have Zoom introductions about the prison ministry and what it involved.”
Prospective participants viewed a slideshow presentation outlining the format of the visits and the philosophical goals of this ministry of presence and hope.
Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25:36 serves as a guiding light: “I was in prison, and you visited me.”
“This is a 2,000-year-old ministry we are dealing with. We're not just doing it for a short time. This is a journey that the Lord wanted to be in from the beginning to the end,” Ha said.
On Nov. 5, the Diocese of Calgary saluted the prison ministry volunteers with a special appreciation gathering at St. Luke’s with Bishop William McGrattan, Chin Jon and Ha in attendance. The clerics toasted the churchgoers’ passion to share the Gospel and act as spiritual accompanists. Many visit one of the three centres once a month and devote one to three hours of their time per visit.
Ha underscored that it is essential to recognize that every inmate sitting across the table has their own story, and many accounts are imbued with tragic dimensions.
“Some have had a very difficult life,” said Ha. “Some are (Indigenous Canadians) who never really have a parent to raise them. When some enter the prison, their family disappears from them. They never get to see their children again. The wife disappears along with the children. Other times you are (ministering) to people who are homeless. Everyone has different needs.”
There are also people contending with crippling addictions to drugs or alcohol, and others registered as sex offenders. In all cases, the volunteer is present to offer up prayer. Ha also connects with detainees through music. He likes to begin his ministry “with a song to mellow everyone out and to provide hope.” Jamming to Bruno Mars’ "Count on Me" on his guitar has served Ha well in recent years.
“I always use that song to tell people you can always count on the Lord, whatever situation you're in and whatever you're struggling with,” said Ha.
He turns to "Amazing Grace" for his closer to encourage inmates to embrace the graces that come through following Jesus.
Fr. Derek Remus, the assistant vocations director for the diocese, has also proved impactful to the program, said Ha. An associate pastor at St. Luke’s, Remus is orientated at all three prisons and has the authorization to hear confessions.
Talks are underway about restarting Mass in the prisons once a month, but receiving approval is proving difficult. Concerns have been expressed about potential security risks that could arise due to certain elements of a Mass. Bringing wine into the facility is one of the concerns.
Ha said there used to be Catholic chaplaincies at the prisons that would help facilitate the visits, but there has been no such presence in the past eight years. Still, the diocese is finding a way to offer a meaningful prison ministry amid the current landscape.
The consequential value of this community outreach program is particularly evident during the holiday season.
“This is one of the reasons why a program during the long weekends, the holiday season, is one of the best things that people can have,” said Ha. “That's the most difficult time people will be experiencing when they are locked up in their cell or the wing. They cannot communicate with their loved ones and sometimes they don’t even have a loved one. They don’t know where they are.”
To learn more about the ministry, email [email protected].
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the December 01, 2024, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "Calgary prison ministry sees post-COVID bump".
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