By Father Paul Kam Po-wai
“I was in prison, and you visited me… whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” [Matthew 25:36-40].
The Church has always responded to the invitation and mission of Jesus to care for the weak and needy. One of these missions is to visit our friends in prison. The Diocese of Hong Kong is no exception and has been involved in prison visitation. Besides regular visits to prisons by clergy, many lay people also participate in prison visitation services.
In 1991, when I was still a seminarian, I was assigned to visit young people under 18 years of age in Cape Collinson Correctional Institution as part of my one-year pastoral training. In 1997, I joined the service as clergy and visited the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre weekly. However, I discontinued for some time due to changes in my work arrangements.
This year, as a vicar general, I need to deal with the coordination work of prison chaplaincies and related lay apostolates. Therefore, apart from communicating with different groups involved, I visit prisons again as part of my mission.
In the past, I only focused on personal contact with inmates by listening to them and comforting them, but I did not explore and look into their concerns after being released from prison. The diocese has not yet systematically developed this service.
As Bishop Chow was particularly concerned about young people, he also thought about whether the young people in prison could continue their education, reconcile with their families and society, go on with their studies and find jobs after they were released, and so on.
Out of concern, Bishop Chow took the initiative to arrange a meeting with the Commissioner of Correctional Services. We were grateful we could talk very well during the first meeting as we shared our experiences and thoughts openly. We appreciated the renewal programmes of the Correctional Services Department, such as those about law and order, career planning and family reorganisation for young inmates. They are keen to work with the Catholic Church so that more groups can help rehabilitate offenders in a more diversified way.
After the first meeting, representatives of the Correctional Services Department contacted different Church organisations such as the Catholic Education Office, the Caritas Institute of Higher Education and the Social Work Services Division of Caritas. They hope that through various channels, they can provide preventive education, create more possibilities for young prisoners to receive education and offer more support to rehabilitated persons. We are very grateful to the Correctional Services Department staff for being so active in contacting us and inspiring us to create more possibilities for the service of inmates and rehabilitated persons.
“I was in prison, and you visited me.” These words now tell me that it is not just about visiting prisons but about accompanying and journeying together. Our diocese needs more resources to develop this service concretely, systematically and effectively. Please pray for this mission.
