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Prison Ministry
The Office of Jail and Prison Ministry functions as a reflection of the Church’s social justice teaching, particularly as it applies to the criminal justice system.
The office serves as a resource for parishes and faithful by providing information and ministry opportunities for clergy and laity in correctional institutions within the borders of the diocese.
The Office of Jail and Prison Ministry seeks to promote restorative justice through its programs and services.
What is Restorative Justice?
The purpose of restorative justice is to heal and restore both the victim and the offender. The current penal law’s retributive model of justice separates the victim from the offender, pitting them against each other.
Restorative justice seeks to empower the offender in owning responsibility for the criminal action. This form of justice is seen as integrated and whole and is based on mercy and love instead of perpetuating the current retributive model of justice as punishment.
Services
- directs pastoral and sacramental ministry to incarcerated men and women
- educates the parishioners of the diocese on the nature of incarceration as well as the needs of prisoners and their families
- recruits and trains clergy and lay contract and volunteer ministers
- advocates for the rights of the incarcerated, especially those on death row
- lobbies with civic and community leaders for a more just and humane correctional system, emphasizing the abolition of capital punishment
- maintains an extensive library of books, articles and videos
- networks with the movement for a moratorium on capital punishment in New Jersey (www.njadp.org)
- works with Garden State CURE (Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants) (www.angelfire.com/nj2/gscure and www.curenational.org)
Contact Us:
Prison Ministry
Diocesan Pastoral Center
PO Box 5147
701 Lawrenceville Road
Trenton, NJ 08638-0147
Phone: 609-406-7400
Fax: 609-406-7403
E-mail: prison@dioceseoftrenton.org
Director: Rev. Robert R. Schulze
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