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By Priscilla Greear
Staff Writer
ATLANTA—Like a priest with his parish council, Deacon Richard Tolcher,
in serving as chaplain at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, meets monthly with
a committee of prisoners that discusses issues and plans liturgies and various
ministries within the incarcerated Catholic community.
Those ministries include the training of eucharistic ministers and lectors,
preparation for the sacrament of confirmation, pastoral counseling, activities
like RENEW 2000 and meditation groups. Lay people teach Scripture classes, act
as musicians, provide a choir for liturgies and lead the rosary and Life in the
Spirit seminars. Several priests celebrate weekly Mass and the archbishop
visits annually.
“I have a committee of inmates discussing Catholic issues as they
relate to the ministry ... There are monthly meetings with the leading hands of
the community. We talk about the seasons of Lent and Easter and what we are
going to do, just as a priest and his parish council might,” said Deacon
Tolcher. “I’ve got a lot of great support from both the clergy and
lay members of the archdiocese.”
With that support, Deacon Tolcher, who has been the full-time chaplain since
1993, works to spread the Gospel message to the inmates at the estimated
2,500-person minimum and high security prison.
He is one of a few hundred Catholics of the archdiocese involved in prison
ministry and is also head of the Archdiocesan Committee of Lay People and
Religious on Ministry to the Incarcerated. Put in place last November to
develop a long-term ministry proposal by October, the committee was appointed
by Archbishop John F. Donoghue and was recommended by the Council of Priests to
develop and coordinate the North Georgia ministry.
“Prisoners have some very serious religious needs. It’s very
rewarding. Anybody who visits a prison realizes how hungry (the inmates) are
for the Lord in their lives. They are incarcerated but their spirituality is
very, very deep ... I try to make sure their spiritual needs are met,”
Deacon Tolcher said.
He talked of his interest in and dedication to prison ministry.
“I believe in a God of justice and mercy, and I try to bring a presence
of that God to them. There’s a wall around the prison, but God certainly
is not prohibited. I try to use all the tools that a parish priest has ... and
bring them into this parish and educate. These men belong to a universal church
... you love the sinner but you despise the sin so you reach out to the sinner
with love as Jesus did,” he said. “... I personally have seen
conversions over the course of time. God is alive and well in prisons as well
as everywhere else.”
While one is always aware of security issues, Deacon Tolcher said that
he’s never been afraid in the facility and feels as safe there as out on
the street. While they share the sins that landed them behind bars as well as
wish that they weren’t there, the convicted criminals also want to discuss
everyday problems like family issues.
“They are fathers. They are parents. They have economic concerns.”
Reaching into the southern end of the diocese, Father Austin Fogarty is
another member of the archdiocesan committee who, for the past three years, has
sung a song of reconciliation to prisoners including those on death row at the
maximum security Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.
Having been searched and carrying only his identification, clearance card and
car key, the prison bound priest, who must be accompanied by prison minister
Deacon Thomas Silvestri, visits the facility weekly. Father Fogarty, parochial
vicar at St. James Church, McDonough, celebrates Masses in the chapel as well
as in the barbershop which has been turned into a makeshift chapel for those on
death row, drawing Catholics and other faithseekers. Standing apart from others
before services, he offers the sacrament of penance and counsels anyone who
approaches him, typically three to four men. Afterwards he sometimes
distributes church bulletins. He said that he goes “light” on acts of
penance, as “they’ve already received it. It would be kind of
redundant at this point.”
Father Fogarty’s ministry is above all one of presence. “By and
large the most important thing with prison ministry, is that they (ministers)
be committed and that they want to do it. It’s important that they develop
a rapport with the community. It’s not so much what you say but that you
show up on a regular basis, with some kind of longevity,” he said.
“Prisoners are being treated impersonally. Nobody’s talking to
each other. It can be very beneficial to have somebody just to listen to
them,” he said.
The priest said he wants the convicted to mentally escape the walls that
bind them during Mass. Many non-Catholics have discovered its uniqueness for
the first time; last year five inmates on death row converted. Father Fogarty
is eager to welcome all sheep into his prison flock, spending equal time
talking with non-Catholics and limiting Catholic jargon in his homilies to a
more broad Christian spin.
The convicts in the Jackson facility who seek really do find, as prisoners,
just like many others, seek Christ after hitting rock bottom.
“It’s a matter of helping one find Christ. These people do take
inquiry about the Christian faith seriously, and seek to improve their prayer
life, understanding of Scripture and their desire to make amends.”
Father Fogarty said that many carry their Bible messages back to their daily
lives. Some attend Pentecostal worship services and Scripture studies during
the week. They look forward to Mass.
“They are very reverent; they are very prayerful. To me, it’s sort
of like monasticism there with its structured regimen and confinement,” he
said. “... Liturgies become an important part of their lives given the
reality that they live in.”
And he, too, looks forward to the time together. “It’s an
opportunity for me to share God with men he loves. I should be there as Christ
to them, not permitting the barrier of the prison to come between us. I
don’t even see prisoners. I see names. I see faces. I see a
community.”
Through the new committee’s work, Father Fogarty hopes that the prison
ministry, which has been marginalized, will be treated as seriously as any
other Gospel-mandated ministry. He particularly hopes more clergy will
participate.
“Prisons are going to be full for a long time. The population’s
here to stay. Just like people who are infirm or restricted to nursing homes,
the prison population needs to be ministered to,” he said. “We have a
real opportunity as ministers of the Gospel to open their hearts and minds to
the mercy of God. Really, how they get there is not important.”
Deacon Tolcher is eager to get every parish involved with prison facilities
in their area. “The committee is going to establish a website, collect and
maintain a database on involved clergy, volunteers, organizations, area prisons
and other faiths and organizations serving the incarcerated; provide ministry
information and resources; hold meetings for parish prison ministers, and
assist pastors in identifying areas of need in the parishes,” he said.
“There are a lot of things that are now beginning to develop,”
Deacon Tolcher said. “The committee will look at what is needed and try to
provide solutions based upon communication and coordination with pastors and
other organizations that are involved. The bishop recognizes a need to serve
the people who are incarcerated and determine how we can best minister to
them.”
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