Pope Francis Tells 500 Prisoners "Life is always worth living, always! And there is always hope for the future..." - "let's talk to God about our pain and help each other"

At the end of the meeting in the Verona Arena, the Holy Father Francis reached the Montorio prison by car where, upon his arrival, he was welcomed by the Director, Dr. Francesca Gioieni, by the Director of the Penitentiary Police, Dr. Mario Piramide and a young prisoner.
In the prison, Pope Francis greeted the Penitentiary Police Officers, the inmates present and the volunteers. Around 500 inmates and men were present at the meeting.
After the greeting from the Director of the Penitentiary Police, the welcome speech from the Director of the Prison and the words of thanks and gratitude from a young inmate, the Pope gave his speech.
Then, after the exchange of gifts and the blessing, Pope Francis had a private lunch with the prisoners.
We publish below the speech that the Holy Father addressed to those present during the meeting and the off-the-cuff words pronounced at the moment of delivery of the gift left at the prison:
Speech by the Holy Father
Dear sisters and brothers, good morning!

I thank the Director for her hospitality and sense of humour! Smiling is so good. I thank all of you for the warmth, celebration and affection you show me. Greetings also go to all those who work in this institution: prison officers, educators, healthcare workers, administrative staff, volunteers. I also want to say hello to all those who are watching from the windows: hello to all of you! I really wanted to meet you all together.
For me, entering a prison is always an important moment, because prison is a place of great humanity. Yes, it is a place of great humanity. Of tested humanity, sometimes fatigued by difficulties, feelings of guilt, judgments, misunderstandings, suffering, but at the same time full of strength, of the desire for forgiveness, of the desire for redemption, as Duarte said in his speech.
And in this humanity, here, in all of you, in all of us, the face of Christ is present today, the face of the God of mercy and forgiveness. Don't forget this: God forgives everything and always forgives, in this humanity, here, in all of you.

This sense of looking at the God of mercy.
We know the situation of prisons, which are often overcrowded - in my homeland, too -, with consequent tension and fatigue. This is why I want to tell you that I am close to you, and I renew the appeal, especially to those who can act in this area, to continue working to improve prison life. Once, a lady who worked in prisons and had a good relationship with the inmates - but it was a women's prison -, a mother of a family, a very human lady, told me that she was devoted to a saint. “But which saint?” – “Santa Porta” – “Why?” – “It is the door of hope”. And all of you must look to this door of hope. There is no human life without horizons. Please do not lose the horizons, which will be seen through that door of hope.
Following the news of your institute, I learned with pain that unfortunately here, recently, some people, in an extreme gesture, have given up on living. This is a sad act, to which only unbearable desperation and pain can lead. Therefore, while I join the families and all of you in prayer, I want to invite you not to give in to discouragement, to look at the door as the door of hope. Life is always worth living, always!, and there is always hope for the future, even when everything seems to be dying out. Our existence, that of each of us, is important - we are not waste material, existence is important - it is a unique gift for us and for others, for everyone, and above all for God, who never abandons us , and who actually knows how to listen, rejoice and cry with us and always forgive. With Him at our side, with the Lord at our side, we can overcome despair. And, as the director said, God is one: our cultures have taught us to call him by one name, by another, and to find him in different ways, but he is the same father of all of us. He is one. And all religions, all cultures, look at the one God in different ways. He never abandons us. With Him at our side, we can overcome despair and live every moment as the right time to start again. Start again. There is a beautiful Piedmontese song that I will try to translate into Italian which goes like this - the Alpine troops sing it -: "In the art of ascending, what matters is not not falling, but not staying fallen". And to all of us who work in this prison, even as volunteers, to family members, to all of us, I say one thing: it is permissible to look down on a person only once: to help him get up. Therefore, in the worst moments, let's not close ourselves in: let's talk to God about our pain and help each other carry it, among companions on the journey and with the good people we find at our side. It's not weakness to ask for help, no: let's do it with humility and trust and humanity. We all need each other, and we all have the right to hope, beyond any history and any mistake or failure. Hope is a right, which never disappoints. Never.
In a few months the Holy Year will begin: a year of conversion, renewal and liberation for the whole Church; a year of mercy, in which to lay aside the burdens of the past and renew the impetus towards the future; in which to celebrate the possibility of a change, to be and, where necessary, return to truly being ourselves, giving our best. May this also be a sign that helps us get up and take back every day of our lives with confidence.
Dear friends, thank you for this meeting. I'll tell you the truth: it's good for me. You are doing me good, thank you. Let us continue to walk together, because love unites us beyond any kind of distance. I remember you in prayer and ask you, please, to pray for me: for, not against! Pray for me. And don't forget: "In the art of climbing, what matters is not not falling, but not staying fallen." Thank you.
Off-the-cuff words from the Holy Father
And now I will give a gift to the prison. I'll give it to the director. This gift... I thought of a virtue that God has, and that we forget, right? Because God has three main virtues: closeness, compassion and tenderness. God is close to all of us, God is compassionate and God is tender. And I thought about tenderness – we don't talk much about tenderness – I thought about this gift: the Madonna with the child which is truly a gesture of tenderness. And I also thought that the figure of Mary is a figure common to both Christianity and Muslims, she is a common figure, she unites us all.
Now I would like to give you the blessing, but I will give it in silence, so everyone receives it from God in the way they believe. A minute of silence and I give my blessing to all of you.
[Blessing]
May the Lord bless you, help you to always move forward, console you in sadness and be your companion in joy. Amen.
Have a nice lunch and see you!

Translation from https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2024/05/18/0410/00851.html