Atlanta archbishop visits 'family of God' at Georgia prison

Published: 2007-01-12

JACKSON, Ga. (CNS) -- During a visit to a state maximum security prison in Jackson, Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta told a group of inmates that they were not forgotten and were integral members of the body of Christ and the church of Georgia. "You men are part of our family of God, the believing community, and so we come to share the mystery of Jesus being born here anew," he said during his Jan. 4 homily in the prison chapel. He assured the dozen inmates at the Mass that Jesus is present for those who are sick, imprisoned and others on the margins of society where "the family of the church may more perfectly recognize the Lord." After Mass, he greeted the inmates in attendance. He then celebrated a private Mass in the prison barbershop for five death-row inmates. About 2,000 male prisoners are incarcerated at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, which also houses the state's 103 death-row inmates.

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