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Even prisoners deserve a jubilee By Michelle Martin Former prisoners, families of inmates and any one else touched by the correctional system are invited to a jubilee Mass for Prisoners to be celebrated by Cardinal George at 1:30 p.m. July 9 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows, 3121 W. Jackson Blvd. Kolbe House, the archdiocese’s prison ministry, will host the Mass on the same day as Pope John Paul II celebrates a Mass for inmates in a prison in Rome. The Mass Cardinal George celebrates is open to all, especially former inmates, families who have a member in jail or in prison, correctional institution employees and crime victims and their families. “Obviously, we can’t target the prisoners,” said Father Lawrence J. Craig, director of Kolbe House. “But we lock up 100,000 people a year (in the Cook and Lake county jails). “It’s pretty hard to meet a family these days who doesn’t have a member or know somebody who’s been locked up—especially poor or minority families.” The 100,000 who move through the county jails is added to another 50,000 in Illinois state correctional institutions, said Craig, who has directed the prison ministry since 1983. Craig is trying to publicize the Mass not only through the media and church bulletins, but by asking pastors to speak directly with parishioners who may have been affected by the criminal justice system, especially pastors of poor and minority parishes. “Unfortunately, we know that those communities are almost always on that end of it (the correctional system),” Craig said, referring to recent studies that show minorities are more likely to be convicted and more likely to be sentenced to prison time than whites who are arrested for similar crimes. Also, he said, most people who remain in the county jails are there because they can’t afford bail. Craig also hopes that the bulletin announcements might attract suburban residents who may have been arrested and posted bond without drawing much notice from their communities, or families who have not told their pastors about members who have been jailed. Kolbe House generally holds special Masses twice a year, on Epiphany and on or near the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Aug. 14. But those services generally draw only about 150 people, Craig said, and Kolbe House volunteers make up about half the congregation. This time, with the presence of Cardinal George and several auxiliary bishops, Craig hoped for a much larger turnout. The Mass is intended to allow participants to demonstrate solidarity with and compassion for those who have been affected in some way by incarceration, but he wants everyone to feel welcome. “We’re not going to make any political statements. What we’re
saying is the system is kind of out of control and it’s a mess,”
he said. “We can’t fix it. We’re putting it in God’s hands, and
saying, ‘Help us be better than this.’”
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