| By Rita McInerney, Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA--Monday mornings Sister Peter Claver tutors prisoners at the
Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center, a short ride from her motherhouse.
Among the inmates she walks and talks softly and carries a roomy tote bag
filled with books and a few little surprises.
She is one of 34 tutors who volunteer in five Philadelphia prisons under the
sponsorship of the Criminal Justice Ministry of Catholic Social Services of the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
William Childs, 27, has been her student for five weeks. They meet in an
area where computer instruction, reading, history, spelling, science and art
are taught by public school teachers and volunteers. Some inmates are prepping
for their high school equivalency tests, others are boning up to repeat a
failed test.
Three tutors with individual students meet in an art classroom. There is a
long table with chairs where the nun and another woman work with their
students. A man and his student sit along the back wall of the room.
Childs is a good student, Sister Peter Claver says. A bullet pierced his
spine two years ago and now he has to depend on his brain, which is very
good...He needs confidence in himself.
The two begin with a spelling review. After a time, Sister Peter Claver digs
into her tote bag and hands a prayer card to Childs. Lets say the
Our Father, she suggests. They bow their heads and pray together quietly.
I have a diary upstairs that I write to God in, William Childs
says.
Sister Clavers tote also contains hard candy for him. Childs grins at
her gift and says that hell save the candy to eat later in his cell.
He enjoys his lessons in modern American history. She relates to
events, like World War II and the military draft. Since I
cant use my physical body, she wants me to use my mind. Id like to
have her teach me every day of the week.
Before the lesson is finished, Childs returns to his cell for some samples
of his self-taught artwork and comes back with pencil sketches of singer Janet
Jackson, a child, some rappers. He says hes been drawing all his life.
Sister Peter Claver encourages him with promises to bring him sketching
paper. But he is gone by her next visit. This ministry is elusive,
she says and its hard to learn from prison staffers what happens to
students.
Yet she knows from letters she received, there are a lot of people who care
and want to help prisoners and those who have served time for their crimes.
A grieving mother wrote from Kansas City, Mo., after reading an article
about this prison volunteer in a national Catholic newspaper.
Her son was killed in a drive-by shooting. Even with her personal heartbreak
she believes men and women in prison need compassion and concern,
and she tries to get others to see the wrongness of the death
penalty.
She told Sister Peter Claver, I argued with the D.A. that I
didnt want the death penalty or life in prison for the two young men
involved in Roberts tragic death. I know how he (Robert) felt about the
time he spent locked up. I also remember how he felt when someone shared our
Lord with him. Maybe someone like you will touch the lives of the young men
serving time for Roberts death.
Her disappointments can be sweetened with joy. Chris, now paroled, passed
his QED test with her helpful tutoring. During their sessions, he talked about
his sister Jeanie; he wanted her to meet his tutor. When Jeanie did come to the
motherhouse of the Missionary Servants of the Blessed Trinity she told Sister
Peter Claver that she had never been confirmed. Here was a situation the nun
could change, and Jeanie and her boyfriend Eddie visited on Tuesday nights for
religious instruction.
December 13 was a day to remember. Jeanie and Eddie were confirmed.
Chris walked in at the middle of Mass (at St. Malachys in the inner
city). I was so surprised when someone put their arms around me.
It was Chris. That very day he had received his equivalency diploma.
He was beside himself with joy. It was a great afternoon. At the
reception afterward, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua chatted with the confirmands
and posed for photos with them.
Sister Peter Claver gives credit for this evangelization to Chris. He
is the missionary. He told me about her.
Sister Peter Claver has a dream and lots of friends to help her make it a
reality. They want to create base Christian communities among homeless people
living in shelters.
Were making slow progress, she nun acknowledged.
The model is already in place. Its been done by a couple of sisters
in a shelter in New York City.
Before she began tutoring at the new correctional facility, Sister Peter
Claver shared Gods message at Holmesburg Prison, an older jail. Here,
with other volunteers, Religious and lay, she welcomes inmates to a prayer
group where they studied Scripture for the coming Sunday. They met in a locked
cell in the psychiatric block.
Men came no matter what their religion. The inmates
took responsibility and would give reflections from their own life
experiences.
An outside development of this group came because the volunteers wanted to
stay within the law. Houses of hospitality where they could live for an interim
period and develop skills to hold jobs were begun by Trinitarian Brother Joseph
Dudek for men, and Sister Virginia Jenkins, SSJ, for women.
We were concerned that prisoners would not go back to their old
habits, Sister Peter Claver said.
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