The three Sisters of Charity, who have been in prison in Trani since they were 18 years old, share with us the excitement and responsibility of the celebration on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025: prison chaplains from Puglia and Basilicata brought their own Lamp of Hope symbol of Jubilee 2025, delivered to them in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The lamps, the fruit of the craftsmanship of Salerno prisoners, were blessed by the Archbishop of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, Msgr. Leonardo D’Ascenzo, and each chaplain will take them to his or her own penal institution where they will remain lit as a sign of hope and conversion to a new life.
The event was attended by the newly appointed Regional Provveditore Carlo Berdini, Prison Director Giuseppe Altomare, Prison Police staff and numerous volunteers. It was a moment of great communion and witness, with many priests concelebrating, representing the Church as a place of closeness to the most fragile.
At the end of the celebration, the inmates offered a moment of fraternity by preparing food for the guests, a symbol of welcome and hope.
The Sisters of Charity of the Trani Women’s Prison in the testimony of the Director
“An ancient Benedictine, then Dominican monastery, a prison since 1860, located in the very center of the beautiful city of Trani, a stone’s throw from the sea. Then there are the people: the Prison Police staff, almost all female; the sisters, three highly experienced sisters, who have lived at the Institute since they were 18 years old, the only ones left of the initial religious group of 15. They have always worked together, side by side, policewomen and nuns, without any rhetoric, in a frank and fair relationship.
Last but not least, there are the women prisoners, with particular reference to those with final sentences, who show, often, a genuine willingness to review their past and their mistakes. Few (some will say fortunately) are the male references: the chaplain, the warden, a few policemen, a few teachers, a few doctors.
The women all dine together in a common room, the moments of recollection in the ancient little church inside exude an authentic spirituality. One can look at the person rather than the punishment. At least here one can do that”.
The Sisters of Charity community entered the prison in 1885, when the prison housed 180 female inmates.
There are currently 40 female inmates. Most of them are between 25 and 50 years old and bring with them stories of violence and marginality, socio-economic and cultural hardship: unemployment, low levels of education and proximity to the universe of addiction. The crimes they commit are often the result of these stories: in fact, they are mostly petty crimes, the result of paths of social exclusion and problematic family experiences.
The appeal of the delegate of the prison chaplains of Puglia and Basilicata
“We do not pretend to solve the great problems that the prison world experiences, but this lamp will bring light to all the penitentiary institutions of Puglia and Basilicata as a sign of Jubilee hope,” said Fr. Andrea Pupilla, ”Lamps are a sign, and signs are a small thing by their nature but can also be a powerful message, as is the work of chaplains in prisons, which will continue silently, daily in support not only of people deprived of their liberty but of all those who work in prisons amid immense problems such as staff shortages and overcrowding of the prison population”.
The interview with Director Altomonte was taken from the Ministry of Justice Daily, Giustizianewsonline, Dec. 2, 2022, https://www.gnewsonline.it/luci-sulla-casa-di-reclusione-femminile-di-trani/
