Vatican spokesman: prisons reflect society’s level of civilization

December 19, 2011

Recalling Blessed John XXIII’s visit to a Roman prison in 1958, the director of the Holy See Press Office said in his weekly editorial that “the condition of a country’s prisons is … one of the essential indicators of that country’s state of civilization.”

“Concerns for the economic crisis must not be an excuse to forget the plight of those on the margins of society, much less a license to be pitiless towards those who have done wrong,” said Father Federico Lombardi. “We can build a fairer and more reasonable society by starting with the least and the last of our fellows: by trying to reconcile and heal the deepest wounds.”

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Fr Lombardi, SJ: Pope Benedict XVI and the capacity for mercy (Vatican Radio)