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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of Prisoners in St Peter's Basilica, telling those present, "by learning from past mistakes, you can open a new chapter of your lives." 

Below is the English translation of the Pope's homily

The message that God’s word wants to bring us today is surely that of hope.

One of the seven brothers condemned to death by King Antiochus Epiphanes speaks of “the hope God gives of being raised again by him” (2 Macc 7:14).  These words demonstrate the faith of those martyrs who, despite suffering and torture, were steadfast in looking to the future.  Theirs was a faith that, in acknowledging God as the source of their hope, reflected the desire to attain a new life.

In the Gospel, we have heard how Jesus, with a simple yet complete answer, demolishes the banal casuistry that the Sadducees had set before him.  His response – “He is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him” (Lk 20:38) – reveals the true face of God, who desires only life for all his children.  The hope of being born to a new life, then, is what we must make our own, if we are to be faithful to the teaching of Jesus.

Hope is a gift of God.  It is placed deep within each human heart in order to shed light on this life, so often troubled and clouded by so many situations that bring sadness and pain.  We need to nourish the roots of our hope so that they can bear fruit; primarily, the certainty of God’s closeness and compassion, despite whatever evil we have done.  There is no corner of our heart that cannot be touched by God’s love.  Whenever someone makes a mistake, the Father’s mercy is all the more present, awakening repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Today we celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy for you and with you, our brothers and sisters who are imprisoned.  Mercy, as the expression of God’s love, is something we need to think about more deeply.  Certainly, breaking the law involves paying the price, and losing one’s freedom is the worst part of serving time, because it affects us so deeply.  All the same, hope must not falter.  Paying for the wrong we have done is one thing, but another thing entirely is the “breath” of hope, which cannot be stifled by anyone or anything.  Our heart always yearns for goodness.  We are in debt to the mercy that

In his Letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul speaks of God as “the God of hope” (15:13).  Paul almost seems to tell us that God too hopes.  While this may seem paradoxical, it is true: God hopes!  His mercy gives him no rest. He is like that Father in the parable, who keeps hoping for the return of his son who has fallen by the wayside (Lk 15:11-32).  God does not rest until he finds the sheep that was lost (Lk 15:5).  So if God hopes, then no one should lose hope.  For hope is the strength to keep moving forward.  It is the power to press on towards the future and a changed life.  It is the incentive to look to tomorrow, so that the love we have known, for all our failings, can show us a new path.  In a word, hope is the proof, lying deep in our hearts, of the power of God’s mercy.  That mercy invites us to keep looking ahead and to overcome our attachment to evil and sin through faith and abandonment in him. 

Dear friends, today is your Jubilee!  Today, in God’s sight, may your hope be kindled anew.  A Jubilee always brings with it a proclamation of freedom (Lev 25:39-46).  It does not depend on me to grant this, but the Church’s duty, one she cannot renounce, is to awaken within you the desire for true freedom.  Sometimes, a certain hypocrisy leads to people considering you only as wrongdoers, for whom prison is the sole answer.  We don’t think about the possibility that people can change their lives; we put little trust in rehabilitation.  But in this way we forget that we are all sinners and often, without being aware of it, we too are prisoners.  At times we are locked up within our own prejudices or enslaved to the idols of a false sense of wellbeing.  At times we get stuck in our own ideologies or absolutize the laws of the market even as they crush other people.  At such times, we imprison ourselves behind the walls of individualism and self-sufficiency, deprived of the truth that sets us free.  Pointing the finger against someone who has made mistakes cannot become an alibi for concealing our own contradictions.  

We know that in God’s eyes no one can consider himself just (cf. Rom 2:1-11).  But no one can live without the certainty of finding forgiveness!  The repentant thief, crucified at Jesus’ side, accompanied him into paradise (cf. Lk 23:43).  So may none of you allow yourselves to be held captive by the past!  True enough, even if we wanted to, we can never rewrite the past.  But the history that starts today, and looks to the future, has yet to be written, by the grace of God and your personal responsibility.  By learning from past mistakes, you can open a new chapter of your lives.  Let us never yield to the temptation of thinking that we cannot be forgiven.  Whatever our hearts may accuse us of, small or great, “God is greater than our hearts” (1 Jn 3:20).  We need but entrust ourselves to his mercy.

Faith, even when it is as tiny as a grain of mustard seed, can move mountains (cf. Mt 17:20).  How many times has the power of faith enabled us to utter the word pardon in humanly impossible situations.  People who have suffered violence and abuse, either themselves, or in the person of their loved ones, or their property…  there are some wounds that only God’s power, his mercy, can heal.  But when violence is met with forgiveness, even the hearts of those who have done wrong can be conquered by the love that triumphs over every form of evil.  In this way, among the victims and among those who wronged them, God raises up true witnesses and workers of mercy.

Today we venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary in this statue, which represents her as a Mother who holds Jesus in her arms, together with a broken chain; it is the chain of slavery and imprisonment.  May Our Lady look upon each of you with a Mother’s love.  May she intercede for you, so that your hearts can experience the power of hope for a new life, one worthy of being lived in complete freedom and in service to your neighbour.

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(Vatican Radio) Following the celebration of Mass on Sunday for the Jubilee of Prisoners, and after the recitation of the Marian Prayer, Pope Francis made an appeal in favour of the improvement of living conditions in prisons all over the world, in order, he said, “that it fully respects the human dignity of detainees.”

In addition, the Pope reiterated the need for a criminal justice system that is not only punitive, but is open to hope and the prospect of re-inserting the offender into society.

“In a special way”,  he added, “I submit for the consideration of the competent civilian authorities in all countries the opportunity to make, in this Holy Year of Mercy, an act of clemency towards those prisoners who will be considered eligible to benefit from this measure.”

The Pope also recalled on Sunday, the Paris Agreement on the climate of the planet which came into force on Friday. Pope Francis said, “this breakthrough proves that humanity has the ability to work together for the protection of creation and to put the economy at the service of people to build peace and justice.”

The Holy Father expressed the hope that a conference on climate which opens on Monday in Marrakech, Morocco, would continue its work aimed at caring for the common home.

During his Angelus address Pope Francis remembered the thirty-eight martyrs who were beatified on Saturday in Shkodra, Albania.

He said, “they preferred to suffer imprisonment, torture and eventually death, in order to remain faithful to Christ and the Church.”

“Their example”,  he added “helps us find strength in the Lord that supports us in times of trouble and inspires acts of kindness, forgiveness and peace.”

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Vatican City, Nov 6, 2016 / 03:23 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis held a special Mass held for prisoners inside St. Peter’s Basilica, telling them that while paying the price for their crimes is necessary, they must never lose hope for the future or the desire for true freedom.

In his Nov. 6 homily, the Pope pointed to how in his letter to the Romans St. Paul refers to God as “the God of hope.”

By saying this, “Paul almost seems to tell us that God too hopes. While this may seem paradoxical, it is true: God hopes! His mercy gives him no rest,” just like the father waiting for the return of the Prodigal son, or the shepherd looking for his lost sheep.

“So if God hopes, then no one should lose hope. For hope is the strength to keep moving forward,” he said. “It is the power to press on toward the future and a changed life. It is the incentive to look to tomorrow, so that the love we have known, for all our failings, can show us a new path.”

Hope is ultimately proof of the power of God’s mercy, Francis said, adding that mercy “invites us to keep looking ahead and to overcome our attachment to evil and sin through faith and abandonment in him.”

The Jubilee of Prisoners, celebrated for prisoners and their families, penitentiary employees, prison chaplains and various associations that assist both inside and outside of the prison system, took place Nov. 5-6 in Rome as part of Pope Francis’ wider Jubilee of Mercy.

Roughly 4,000 people attended, of which 1,000 were prisoners from 12 countries around the world. Though the majority of the prisoners were from Italy, a Lutheran delegation was present from Sweden. Around 50 prisoners and ex-prisoners were also present from the U.S., including a group of 22 from Cincinnati.

Inmates of all types were included among the participants, including minors, people on house arrest, and those with varying sentences. Though Pope Francis has taken a special interest in individual cases of death row inmates, none were present during the Jubilee event.

Ahead of Sunday’s Mass St. Peter’s Basilica opened at 7:30 a.m. for the jubilee event, which included singing, testimonies given by 4 participants and a rosary ahead of Pope Francis’ arrival.

All tickets for the Mass, as usual for Jubilee events, were completely free of cost. After Mass, attendees made their way to the “Reception Celebrating Mercy” in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, for which no ticket was required.

During Mass, it was the prisoners themselves who carried out various roles in the liturgy, such as lectoring. The hosts used during Communion were also made by prisoners of the Opera maximum security prison in Milan as part of “The Meaning of Bread” project organized for the Jubilee of Mercy.

In his homily, Pope Francis said the day’s readings offered a strong message of a hope “that doesn't delude.”

Hope, he said, “is a gift of God” and as such “is placed deep within each human heart in order to shed light on this life, so often troubled and clouded by so many situations that bring sadness and pain.”

The roots of this hope must be nourished so as to bear fruit in the certainty “of God’s closeness and compassion, despite whatever evil we have done,” he said, adding that “there is no corner of our heart that cannot be touched by God’s love.”

Mercy, the Pope continued, is something that must be thought about “more deeply.” While breaking the law certainly involves “paying the price,” particularly when it comes to losing one’s freedom, at the same time “hope must not falter.”

“Paying for the wrong we have done is one thing, but another thing entirely is the breath of hope, which cannot be stifled by anyone or anything.”

Francis noted that at times “a certain hypocrisy” leads people to view prisoners as merely “wrongdoers, for whom prison is the sole answer.”

“We don’t think about the possibility that people can change their lives; we put little trust in rehabilitation,” he said, explaining that in doing this we forget “that we are all sinners and often, without being aware of it, we too are prisoners.”

Often times we are “locked up within our own prejudices or enslaved to the idols of a false sense of well-being,” he said. “We get stuck in our own ideologies or absolutize the laws of the market even as they crush other people.”

In these moments, we imprison ourselves behind walls of “individualism and self-sufficiency” and are deprived “of the truth that sets us free,” Pope Francis said, stressing that “pointing the finger against someone who has made mistakes cannot become an alibi for concealing our own contradictions.”

While no one can consider themselves just before God, no one can live “without the certainty of finding forgiveness,” he said, and prayed that none of the prisoners present would allow themselves to “held captive by the past!”

“By learning from past mistakes, you can open a new chapter of your lives. Let us never yield to the temptation of thinking that we cannot be forgiven,” Francis said.

He noted that while there are some wounds that only God can heal, when violence is met with forgiveness “even the hearts of those who have done wrong can be conquered by the love that triumphs over every form of evil.”

Pope Francis closed his homily by turning to Mary, praying that she would look upon each of them “with a mother’s love” and intercede so that their hearts “can experience the power of hope for a new life, one worthy of being lived in complete freedom and in service to your neighbor.”

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Vatican City, Nov 6, 2016 / 04:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After celebrating Mass for prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis in his Angelus address appealed for better prison conditions and asked that as part of the Jubilee of Mercy, competent global authorities would consider granting clemency to eligible inmates.

“I would like to make an appeal for better conditions in prison life, so that the human dignity of the detained is fully respected,” the Pope said Nov. 6.

He emphasized the importance of the need a criminal justice “which isn’t just punitive, but open to hope and the re-insertion of the offender into society.”

“In a special way, I submit to the consideration of the competent civil authorities the possibility to make, during this Holy Year of Mercy, an act of clemency toward those prisoners deemed eligible to benefit from such a measure.”

Legally speaking, clemency is a power given to a public official, such as a mayor, governor or the president, in some way modify or lower the harshness of a punishment or sentence imposed on a prisoner.

While the crime committed is not completely forgotten as in cases of amnesty, they are forgiven and treated more leniently.

Pope Francis made his appeal after having celebrated Mass for some 4,000 people participating in a special Nov. 5-6 Jubilee for Prisoners inside of St. Peter’s Basilica, among whom were 1,000 inmates from 12 countries around the world.

Before leading pilgrims in the Angelus, the Pope pointed to the day’s readings, which speak of the essential Christian belief in the resurrection from the dead.

In his address, Francis noted that life after death “will be different from that on earth.” In responding to the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection and tried to trick him, Jesus not only reaffirms the resurrection, but shows that “it’s not possible to apply the categories of this world to the realities that go beyond and are bigger than what we see in this life.”

“Jesus intends to explain that in this world we live in a provisionary reality that ends,” he said, explaining that after our resurrection, “we will no longer have death as a horizon and we will live entirely, even human bonds, in the dimension of God, in a transfigured way.”

Pope Francis stressed that heaven isn’t reserved for just “the privileged few,” but is intended for all men and women, because in dying on the Cross, the salvation Jesus bought is for each one of us.

Our life will be similar to that of the angles, dedicated completely to the light and praise of God, he said, but cautioned against viewing the resurrection as something we experience only after death. It’s something “that we already experience today” and is the final victory we can anticipate.

“The resurrection is fundamental to the Christian faith,” he said, adding that if there were no reference eternal life, “Christianity would be reduced to an ethic, a philosophy of life.”

Rather, the message of Christian faith comes from heaven and “is revealed by God and goes beyond this world,” the Pope continued.

“To believe in the resurrection is essential, so that each of our actions of Christian love is not ephemeral and doesn’t end in itself, but becomes a seed destined to bloom in the garden of God and produce fruit for eternal life.”

After leading pilgrims in praying the traditional Marian prayer, Pope Francis noted how just two days ago the Paris Climate Agreement, a fruit of the COP21 Summit in Paris last year, went into effect.

Calling the accord an “important step forward,” he said it demonstrates that “humanity has the ability to collaborate for the safeguarding of creation, to put the economy at the service of the people and to build peace and justice.”

Francis pointed to a new climate summit set to open tomorrow, in Marrakech, Morocco, which is aimed, among other things, at the implementation of the Paris agreement. He voiced his hope that the process would be “guided by the awareness of our responsibility for the care of the common home.”

Before concluding, he also noted how 38 martyrs were proclaimed Blessed in Albania Saturday, consisting of two bishops, several priests, a seminarian and some lay persons, all of whom were victims “of the strong persecution of the atheistic regime that long dominated that country in the previous century.”

“These ones preferred to undergo imprisonment, torture and in the end death, in order to remain faithful to Christ and to the Church,” he said, adding that their example “helps us to find in the Lord the strength that sustains us in difficult moments and which inspires attitudes of goodness, forgiveness and peace.”

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