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2018 North American Prison Ministry Annual Report

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2018 North American Prison Ministry Annual Report ® Order of Malta North American Prison Ministry Apostolate I was in prison and you visited me... Matthew 25:36 ANNUAL REPORT 2018 ® Order of Malta North American Prison Ministry Apostolate Board 2018 J. Michael McGarry, KMOb Co-Chair – Federal Association Collins P. Whitfield, KMOb Co-Chair – Federal Association Robert J. Fredericks,Ph.D.,GCMOb Chair Emeritus – American Association Eileen K. Bitten, DM-Western Association Steve Caron, KM-American Association Joseph Feitelberg, KMOb-American Association Craig Gibson, KM-American Association Marion Glennon, DM-American Association Richard M. Grimes, KM-Western Association Patrick M. Portelli, KM-Canadian Association John Santa, KM-American Association Douglas Sandvig, KM-Federal Association Andrew Vissicchio, KMOb-American Association Nicholas Yanicelli, KM-American Association Chaplain, Fr. George Williams, S.J., ChM-American Association PRISON MINISTRY Report of Activities—2018 Pope Francis holds special Mass for prisoners at Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on November 6, 2016: “We can all make mistakes” OVERVIEW The North American Prison Ministry Apostolate (“Apostolate”) consists of the leadership of the four United States and Canadian Associations of the Order of Malta. The Apostolate was formed in direct response to the request of the Grand Master of the Order of Malta. Collectively, the work the Apostolate oversees consists of the following; Participants- We have over 1000 Knights, Dames, Auxiliary and Friends devoted to this ministry. We have also affiliated with over 1000 Parish Volunteers to help carry out our work and theirs. Collectively, we believe we are one of the largest Catholic providers of hope, help and comfort to the incarcerated and those recently released. Locations-We reach inmates in every State, seven Canadian Provinces and 38 countries in the Western Hemisphere in some aspect of our outreach. Meetings-The Apostolate meets semi-annually; this year in Houston, Texas and Hartford, Connecticut Religious Materials-We distribute over 12,000 Malta English and 6,000 Malta Spanish Bibles and a like number of Malta English and Spanish prayer books and prayer cards, as well as Rosary Petition cards. Our quarterly publication, The Serving Brother, reaches inmates in all the locations noted above. Over 55,000 copies are distributed each quarter. Reflections – We prepare a monthly Reflection based upon prison visit experiences. These Reflections focus on the working of the Holy Spirit on those inmates who thirst to learn more about Christ and the profound impact they have upon us on the outside. (See Attachment for a recent Reflection-note the reference to “Men in White” pertains to inmates). Visits-We meet with incarcerated men and women in some 60 jails and prisons, including inmates on death row. We mentor many of the men and women through Bible Study classes and further assist with spiritual growth through attendance at various religious services including the celebration of Holy Mass. Pen Pal Program-this is a two-way anonymous correspondence with over 300 inmates throughout the country. Education-we are supporting efforts to provide Catholic educational content on electronic Tablets that have been made available to inmates in various penal institutions. Also, we have begun placing 30-50 Catholic books in prison libraries. Rosary Petition-We began a program where inmates gather together every evening to pray the Rosary and read a special petition. To date, hundreds of inmates are participating in prisons throughout the country. Re-entry-We assist hundreds of recently released individuals through mentoring, distributing Resource Guides of available social services for those in need, providing housing, meals, medical, education services, job placement and the like in designated caring centers. Families-We reach hundreds through mentoring children of the incarcerated, providing transportation for visits, wrapping and distributing Christmas gifts, and assisting in various centers that support families impacted by incarceration. APOSTOLATE Details of the work of the four Apostolate Associations in 2018 are set forth in the following pages. However, before discussing that work, we set forth our objectives for 2019 and welcome your comments. Pursuant to our Strategic Plan (which is set forth on our websites) three areas stand out: (1) increase spirituality inside the walls; (2) expand our re-entry focus; and (3) develop a spiritual, comforting outreach to Correction Officers. With respect to increasing spirituality inside the walls, working with Father William Watson S.J. of Sacred Story Institute (sacredstory.net) , we will expand the scope of our Pen Pal Program to include reading, reflecting and commenting on the book “Forty Weeks” authored by Father Watson. The book is a compendium of correspondence between Father Watson and an inmate. The book provides a sure and steady path to an experience of God’s unconditional love and helps us understand how God’s mercy never abandons anyone. The process for this spiritual journey is very simple; both writers will read a “week” (chapter) at a time and put their thoughts/reflections in their next correspondence, along with the normal topics of mutual interest. Also, as part of increasing spirituality inside the walls, we will be placing 30-40-Catholic books in selected prison libraries throughout our Associations’ reach. As to our increased focus on re-entry, discussions with a number of ex-offenders in various parts of the Associations’ territories, reflect a paucity of pre-release education. To increase the chances of successfully re-entering society, certain basic needs must be addressed, such as Social Security cards, Identification cards, Medicare and Medicaid cards, etc. We will devote more resources to pre-release education by developing a brief guide outlining the essential needs and steps to be taken while incarcerated to assure these needs have been successfully addressed. We plan to work with a selected few states to initiate the Program. Also, we will expand our employment focus, working with Community Colleges to enroll ex- offenders in various job-related courses such as forklift operator, commercial drivers licenses, construction equipment operator, etc. We will provide financial support for the courses, housing and food while these men/women are in class and assist them with employment. Our third area, which focuses on Correction Officer spirituality, arises out of the work of Father George Williams, S.J., a Member of the Apostolate and the Catholic Chaplain at San Quentin Prison, San Raphael, California. Through the work of Father George and specifically, his Doctoral Dissertation, “Correctional Staff Burnout, Spirituality and Resilience” and in discussions with the Apostolate, it became clear that the prison guards or correctional officers, hereinafter CO’s, were also victims in need of spiritual and emotional attention and support. The plan is to institute a program, initially at the San Quentin Prison, that spiritually promotes wellness in prison work by increasing resilience and decreasing burnout. Once we are satisfied that we have produced an effective program, it can be mirrored in prisons throughout the Apostolate areas. Studies of stress levels of CO’s confirm that prison work stress is significantly correlated with physical and mental health, including depression, hypertension, substance abuse, burnout and an elevated risk of suicide. Similar to a battle war zone, prisons pose the challenge of having to subdue, manage and secure a large number of unwilling and potentially dangerous people. It is not only inmates who are traumatized by harsh conditions of confinement, but there is ample empirical evidence that CO’s who witness the violence of prison firsthand are subject to severe stress from vicarious traumatization. A 2010 nationwide Internet survey of 750 CO’s found that 58% of the sample met the re- experiencing criteria of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). CO’s reported emotional responses to violence in the following ways: Anger-75.6%; Indifference/Hardness-69.3%; Fear-55%; Emotional numbing-46.4%; Powerlessness/Helplessness-41.1%; Grief/ Sadness-35.4%. Furthermore, CO’s are confronted with dismal life expectancy statistics in general. CO’s have the second highest mortality rate of any occupation and on average are assaulted at least twice during a 20 year career. The life expectancy of an American CO is 59 years, compared to the current United States national average of 78.8 years. It is not just the incarcerated and the CO’s who suffer, but Correctional Chaplains as well. Correctional Chaplains, like CO’s, are front line staff in prison whose work requires them to interact directly with prisoners in all areas of the institution. Correctional Chaplains engage directly with inmates and spend much of their work time in the same recreation and living space as inmates. In fact, they are the only personnel other than their CO’s and medical staff who regularly interact with inmates in all areas of the prison. While there has been increasing attention in research on CO’s and the stressors associated with their work, little attention has been paid to the stressful effects of prison work on Correction Chaplains. Our planned Program also will explore this population group. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION Prison Ministry in the American Association continues its active outreach to the incarcerated and their families throughout the territory of the American Association and in cooperation with the other Associations of the North American Prison Ministry Apostolate. Our prison ministry volunteers go into jails and state and federal prisons, minimum, medium and maximum security, including death row. We bring the Word of God to our Catholic inmates, we help facilitate the celebration of Holy Mass with them, their baptism and confirmation, their confessions and their receipt of the Eucharist. We listen to them and let them know that there are those “on the outside” who care about them and are praying for them. During the past year 10,000 English language Bibles and 5,000 Spanish language Bibles were distributed, through our Catholic chaplains, in some 37 states in the United States.
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