Pope on prisons: No inmate should ever be deprived of hope

By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has issued a plea on behalf of prison inmates, saying they should never be deprived of hope and always have the opportunity to redeem themselves. In remarks at his weekly public audience at the Vatican, Francis told the faithful that “we risk being imprisoned in a justice that doesn’t allow one to easily get back up again and confuses redemption with punishment.” He said Wednesday that individuals should have to pay for their mistakes but also should be able to find redemption from their errors. Francis didn’t cite the prison policies or justice systems of any particular countries as problematic. Catholic teaching holds that the death penalty has no justification in modern society.