Pope Francis begins Visit to Venice at a Women's Prison saying Start "each day by saying..."today I begin again" - "Let's not forget that we all have mistakes to be forgiven for and wounds to heal" FULL TEXT
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At 6.32 this morning, the Holy Father Francis left by helicopter from the Vatican heliport to go on a pastoral visit to Venice.Upon his arrival, at 7.55 am, after landing in the internal square of the Venice-Giudecca women's prison (approx. 80 inmates), the Holy Father was welcomed by the Patriarch of Venice, H.E. Monsignor Francesco Moraglia, the Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio, the Superintendent Rosella Santoro, the Director of the structure, Mariagrazia Felicita Bregoli and the Commander of the Penitentiary Police, Lara Boco.
In the internal courtyard of the prison, the Pope met the prisoners. Administrative staff, prison police officers and some volunteers were also present.
The Full Text speech that the Pope gave during the meeting:
Speech by the Holy Father
Dear sisters, dear brothers! We are all brothers, everyone, and no one can deny the other, no one!
I greet everyone with affection, and especially you sisters, inmates of the Giudecca Prison. I wanted to meet you at the beginning of my visit to Venice to tell you that you have a special place in my heart.
I would therefore like us to experience this moment not so much as an "official visit", but as a meeting in which, by the grace of God, we give each other time, prayer, closeness and fraternal affection. Today we will all leave this courtyard richer - perhaps the richest person will be me - and the good we will exchange will be precious.
It is the Lord who wants us together in this moment, arrived through different paths, some very painful, also due to errors of which, in various ways, each person bears wounds and scars, each person bears scars. And God wants us together because he knows that each of us, here, today, has something unique to give and receive, and that we all need it. Each of us has our own singularity, we have a gift and this is to offer it, to share it.
Prison is a harsh reality, and problems such as overcrowding, the lack of structures and resources, episodes of violence generate a lot of suffering there. However, it can also become a place of rebirth, moral and material rebirth, in which the dignity of women and men is not "put in isolation", but promoted through mutual respect and care for talents and abilities, perhaps left dormant or imprisoned by events of life, but which can re-emerge for the good of all and which deserve attention and trust. Nobody takes away a person's dignity, nobody!
So, paradoxically, staying in a prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of unsuspected beauties in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event that you are hosting and to whose project you actively contribute; it can become like a reconstruction site, in which one can courageously look at and evaluate one's life, remove what is not needed, what is cumbersome, harmful or dangerous, develop a project, and then start again by digging foundations and returning, in the light of experiences made, to put brick by brick, together, with determination. For this reason, it is essential that the prison system also offers prisoners tools and spaces for human growth, spiritual, cultural and professional growth, creating the conditions for their healthy reintegration. Please, don't "isolate dignity", don't isolate dignity but give new possibilities!
Let's not forget that we all have mistakes to be forgiven for and wounds to heal, I too, and that we can all become healed who bring healing, forgiven who bring forgiveness, reborn who bring rebirth.
Dear friends, let us renew today, you and I, together, our faith in the future: please do not close the window, always look at the horizon, always look at the future, with hope. I like to think of hope as an anchor, you know, which is anchored in the future, and we have the rope in our hands and we move forward with the rope anchored in the future. Let us propose to start each day by saying: "today is the right time", today, "today is the right day", today (see 2 Cor 6.2), "today I begin again", always, for the rest of our lives!
I thank you for this meeting and I assure you of my prayers for each of you. And you pray for me, but for, not against!
And this is the gift I leave you. Watch, it's a bit like a mother's tenderness, and Mary has this tenderness with all of us, with all of us, she is the mother of tenderness. Thank you.
[exchange of gifts and greetings from prisoners]
And now they're kicking me out! Thank you, thank you very much, I will remember you! And forward and courage, don't give up, courage and forward!
In the internal courtyard of the prison, the Pope met the prisoners. Administrative staff, prison police officers and some volunteers were also present.
The Full Text speech that the Pope gave during the meeting:
Speech by the Holy Father
Dear sisters, dear brothers! We are all brothers, everyone, and no one can deny the other, no one!
I greet everyone with affection, and especially you sisters, inmates of the Giudecca Prison. I wanted to meet you at the beginning of my visit to Venice to tell you that you have a special place in my heart.
I would therefore like us to experience this moment not so much as an "official visit", but as a meeting in which, by the grace of God, we give each other time, prayer, closeness and fraternal affection. Today we will all leave this courtyard richer - perhaps the richest person will be me - and the good we will exchange will be precious.
It is the Lord who wants us together in this moment, arrived through different paths, some very painful, also due to errors of which, in various ways, each person bears wounds and scars, each person bears scars. And God wants us together because he knows that each of us, here, today, has something unique to give and receive, and that we all need it. Each of us has our own singularity, we have a gift and this is to offer it, to share it.
Prison is a harsh reality, and problems such as overcrowding, the lack of structures and resources, episodes of violence generate a lot of suffering there. However, it can also become a place of rebirth, moral and material rebirth, in which the dignity of women and men is not "put in isolation", but promoted through mutual respect and care for talents and abilities, perhaps left dormant or imprisoned by events of life, but which can re-emerge for the good of all and which deserve attention and trust. Nobody takes away a person's dignity, nobody!
So, paradoxically, staying in a prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of unsuspected beauties in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event that you are hosting and to whose project you actively contribute; it can become like a reconstruction site, in which one can courageously look at and evaluate one's life, remove what is not needed, what is cumbersome, harmful or dangerous, develop a project, and then start again by digging foundations and returning, in the light of experiences made, to put brick by brick, together, with determination. For this reason, it is essential that the prison system also offers prisoners tools and spaces for human growth, spiritual, cultural and professional growth, creating the conditions for their healthy reintegration. Please, don't "isolate dignity", don't isolate dignity but give new possibilities!
Let's not forget that we all have mistakes to be forgiven for and wounds to heal, I too, and that we can all become healed who bring healing, forgiven who bring forgiveness, reborn who bring rebirth.
Dear friends, let us renew today, you and I, together, our faith in the future: please do not close the window, always look at the horizon, always look at the future, with hope. I like to think of hope as an anchor, you know, which is anchored in the future, and we have the rope in our hands and we move forward with the rope anchored in the future. Let us propose to start each day by saying: "today is the right time", today, "today is the right day", today (see 2 Cor 6.2), "today I begin again", always, for the rest of our lives!
I thank you for this meeting and I assure you of my prayers for each of you. And you pray for me, but for, not against!
And this is the gift I leave you. Watch, it's a bit like a mother's tenderness, and Mary has this tenderness with all of us, with all of us, she is the mother of tenderness. Thank you.
[exchange of gifts and greetings from prisoners]
And now they're kicking me out! Thank you, thank you very much, I will remember you! And forward and courage, don't give up, courage and forward!
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