This was the first of our week’s for
all
those working with and for prisoners. It followed the
usual Boarbank mixture of
retreat, holiday and study. The group had daily Mass
and Morning Prayer and
joined with the Boarbank Community for Evening and
Night Prayer. We watched
together the film Of Gods and Men,
a
very powerful depiction of the life and experience of
the Cistercian community
of Tibhirine in Algeria, under pressure from the
threat of terrorism. Talks
were given by Fr Malachy Keegan, the principal Roman
Catholic chaplain to
prisons, on prison as a metaphor, on schemes for
supporting the resettlement of
offenders and on pastoral care for prisoners. Fr Dixie
Taylor spoke about
prison in the New Testament and Sr Margaret on the
basic Christian principles
of punishment. Sr Anne gave a practical session on
imaginative liturgy for
prisoners using a set of stations of the cross she had
developed during her own
work with young offenders.
The week was attended by an extremely
committed and experienced group, mainly of prison
chaplains, though with one or
two people with other responsibilities involving
prisons. It would be very good
to expand in future years, on this first Freedom and Hope
week. We would particularly like to include more
prison staff, and visitors and
other volunteers.
