WYD Panama: Pope tells young
detainees 'We are more than labels'
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| Pope Fancis greets an inmate at the Pacora Juvenile Detention Center.(Vatican Media) |
Pope Francis conducts a Penitential Service with young
people in custody in Panama, and speaks to them of change, conversion, and
encouragement.
By Seán-Patrick Lovett
You know you’ve arrived at the prison when you turn a corner
and suddenly come up against a 12-foot high concrete wall topped with rolls of
barbed wire. Through the guarded security gates you catch a glimpse of low
buildings all painted different colours.
They call it a Detention Centre. But it’s still a prison.
They call the young detainees Juveniles in Custody. But they’re still
prisoners. The youngest is 14, the oldest 25. They are here to serve sentences
of one to twelve years for crimes that range from petty theft, to drug dealing,
to murder. And they’ve been preparing for Pope Francis’ visit for months.
Preparations
They manufactured the chair on which the Pope sat in their
carpentry shop. They prepared the different types of bread they gifted him in
their bakery. They spent hours practising the songs they sang for him, painting
a picture for him, carving a pastoral staff for him, and months making sure
that all and everything would be perfectly in its place. And it was.
Penitential Service
By visiting the young detainees, the Pope was symbolically
including all those young people who, for whatever reason, are unable to attend
the World Youth Day celebrations. This gave special poignancy to the occasion
and underscored the liturgical aspect of the encounter, which took the form of
a Penitential Service. In fact, the Pope himself heard the confessions of five
young people, and dedicated his homily to the themes of change, conversion, and
encouragement.
The Pope’s Homily
“He receives sinners and eats with them”. Pope Francis began
with the grumbling and complaining of the Pharisees, mumbling their disapproval
of Jesus’ behaviour and trying to discredit Him. By doing so, said the Pope,
they blocked “any kind of change, conversion and inclusion”. Pope Francis
contrasted this attitude with the way Jesus “approaches and engages”, always
giving us another chance. Sometimes it’s easier to post “signs and labels”, the
Pope continued, “that ultimately serve only to divide: these people are good
and those are bad; these people are the righteous and those the sinners”.
In a series of off-the-cuff remarks, Pope Francis kept
returning to the theme of encouragement. Pay no attention to those who tell you
“you can’t do it”, he said, describing them like cloth-eating moths. Tell them,
and tell yourself especially, the Pope insisted, that “you can!”.
God’s love, said Pope Francis, “has no time for
complaining”: God’s love initiates a process of “integration and
transformation, healing and forgiveness”, he said. By eating with sinners,
Jesus “shatters the mentality that excludes, isolates, and falsely separates
‘the good and the bad’”. Because “each of us is much more than our labels”,
said Pope Francis.
“A community grows sick when it lives off relentless,
negative and heartless complaining”, he continued. “A society is fruitful when
it is able to generate processes of inclusion and integration…building a future
through community, education and employment.”
A model of rehabilitation
In reality, this is exactly what the Pacora Juvenile
Detention Centre outside Panama City tries to do. It’s one of the reasons why
this particular penitentiary is considered a model of rehabilitation and
reintegration in Panama, and beyond.
Its halls and passageways are plastered with posters
encouraging the values of “Respect”, “Trust”, and “Responsibility”. A team of
dedicated psychologists and social workers uses creativity and empowerment
skills to prepare their young charges for a life beyond the prison walls –
hoping that once they leave, they lose their labels, and never come back.
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