Cardinal Felipe Neri Ferrao on Wednesday called on volunteers of the Prison Ministry India (PMI) to invest time by listening, appreciating and loving the prisoners, to enable them to reach their self-actualisation and enjoy true redemption.
He was delivering the presidential address at the inaugural function of three-day 13th National Convention which will deliberate on the theme ‘Reform to Reintegrate’ at the St Joseph Vaz Spiritual Renewal Centre.
Commending the volunteers of the PMI (Goa Unit) who are celebrating the silver jubilee of their passionate service of Christ Jesus in the Goa prisons, Cardinal Ferrao recalled that St Joseph Vaz, Patron of the Archdiocese, was a prisoner in Sri Lanka and it would be right to call him the Patron Saint of Prisoners in India.
Keynote speaker and Chairperson of the PMI Bishop Alwyn D’Silva cited that the six lakh prisoners lingering in the prisons of India are not just a number but the immense expression of pain and agony of their parents and families.
When the world does not recognise prisoners as citizens, he said, the over 8,000 PMI volunteers serving in the 1,350 prisons of India attempt to reform the prisoners to reintegrate them into society for their integral human development.
In the inaugural address, Chief Guest Judge Desmond D’Costa, Member of the Human Rights Commission, Goa, recalled his days as the District Judge where he directly witnessed exemplary service of the prison ministry volunteers to help prisoners tide over their stress and struggles of everyday life in the prisons.
