Catholic prison ministries are diverse, much in demand

Published: 2006-06-12

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic prison ministry programs are diverse, demanding and rewarding, as several recent reports in diocesan newspapers illustrate. This May the Philadelphia prison system named the Philadelphia archdiocesan prison ministry its outstanding volunteer organization of the year. Earlier this year Father Michael Scott took up a new post as the first full-time director of prison ministry for the Diocese of Metuchen, N.J. In Joliet, Ill., Bishop Stanley G. Schlarman, former head of the Diocese of Dodge City, Kan., has been engaged in prison ministry for the past three years while helping out in the Joliet chancery as vicar for clergy. Back in Philadelphia, a Catholic couple, Sophie and Jack Weber, coordinate a local support group for families of prisoners and run a pen-pal program for prisoners across the country.

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