Vatican spokesman laments Honduran prison fire
February 17, 2012
Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Holy See Press Office, has devoted his weekly editorial to the February 14 prison fire in Comayagua, Honduras, that left 355 dead--“more than a third of the prisoners of a jail crowded beyond belief,” as he put it.
“The fact that people are wrong does not devoid them of all dignity, it does not justify being brutalized in a climate of violence that degrades not only them but also those who often have to manage them and makes any rehabilitation virtually impossible,” Father Lombardi wrote.
“The Gospel reminds us in no uncertain terms that this will be one of the criteria of judgment of God upon us: ‘I was in prison and you visited me--I was in prison and you did NOT come to me.’ Comayagua’s disfigured dead, in reality, represent the face of Christ for each of us.”
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Further information:
- Lombardi editorial: Fire in prison (Vatican Radio)
- Honduras prison fire: Tragedy repeats itself (BBC)
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