A man who spent 18 years in prison spoke about the beauty of attending the first-ever Jubilee of Prisoners, which took place on Gaudete Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica.
“Sitting in a prison cell in North Carolina, it never would have occurred to me that decades later I would be here at Saint Peter’s, attending a Mass specifically geared to prisoners,” Joshua Stancil said to Vatican News.
Stancil grew in his faith while he was incarcerated through the witness of lay volunteers who came to visit. He was released in 2014, and later founded Living with Convictions, which helps men released from prison re-integrate back into society. He is currently the creative content manager for the Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition in the United States.
The Jubilee of Prisoners, Stancil said, addressed the feeling of being “permanently marked,” which he said is a deep wound that many prisoners experience.
“When you come out of prison, at least in America, you feel radioactive,” he explained. “As if there’s a sign on your forehead saying ‘just released from prison.’ Even if no one can see it, you feel it — and you feel that you’ll never be fully allowed back, not even in the Church.”
The jubilee addressed that wound by showing that “not only that we are included, but that we’re included right here, in the very heart of the Church, not in some segregated space,” Stancil said.
Having the jubilee on the joyous feast of Gaudete Sunday underscored the message to prisoners, according to Stancil.
”What could be more joyful than being told you have not been cast off, and that your new beginning is truly a new beginning?” he said.
Pope Leo XIV, Stancil explained, spoke about systemic issues that affect prisons worldwide, like overcrowding, as well as speaking on spiritual subjects. Stancil said that the Pope’s homily showed a moral clarity.
Stancil added that as an American, Pope Leo’s words have the power to change prison conditions in the U.S.: “On this issue especially, Pope Leo can be a tremendous help in moving Catholics in the pews.”
Finally, Stancil concluded that the jubilee emphasized the universality of the Church — and thus it was a message of hope to every Catholic, not just the incarcerated.
“I’ve never seen so many people in my life, every race, every language, every culture,” he said. “And now, prisoners too, men and women from around the world who have fallen and are returning.”
The post Former inmate speaks on Jubilee of Prisoners: ‘Included in the very heart of the Church’ appeared first on CatholicVote org.