Giving ‘hope’ to prisoners: the mission of Franciscan lay people in Manila

In the Jubilee Year, a group of 12 Catholics is promoting pastoral care in prisons. “Mission in Prison” wants to give prisoners “hope and faith that God loves them even in the darkest moments.” The project is led by Manuben, himself a former prisoner who wants to “make prison a place of prayer.”

Manila (AsiaNews) - Witnessing charity and Christian “hope” in the Jubilee Year proclaimed by Pope Francis in Philippine prisons by meeting prisoners deprived of their freedom and showing them a way to begin rebuilding their future.

This is the commitment of 12 lay Catholics from the Archdiocese of Manila, members of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS), as part of the “Mission in Prison” program launched in 2017 and resumed with renewed vigor after the interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We only returned last year, in 2024,” Artemio B. Manuben Jr., a lay Franciscan, explained to AsiaNews. The Catholic leader, together with members of his team, also Franciscans, come from the parish of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad in Binondo, part of the archdiocese of the capital. Fr. Daniel Voltaire B. Hui, pastor of the parish of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, supports the Franciscans in this pastoral commitment.

“Mission in Prison,” he continues, aims to give prisoners “hope and faith that God loves them even in the darkest moments” and that “their suffering can be transformed into blessings, sadness into joy, and darkness into light.”

“We met some of them during street catechesis. Among them was a woman, Anabelle Torres, whom we always visited in prison. She was released after a year and a half and joined us as a Franciscan catechist,” said Manuben, himself a former prisoner.

Now she helps the Franciscan lay people cook for those living on the streets, along with other homeless people who have helped the group. There are also others whom the group knew, she adds, who “were able to change their lives after being in prison.” Torres turned her life around for God after a period of profound crisis.

For this reason, she was invited to share her testimony of hope during the opening of the Jubilee Year by the Archdiocese of Manila. On that occasion, she revealed the prayer she used to recite during the long days spent in her cell: “Lord, give me another chance to change my life.”

The team of lay Franciscans regularly visits a city prison in the capital. “Before we do so,” Manuben confides, “we need to pray fervently that God will touch us first, so that they too can be touched. We are fortunate to meet them. We only visit one district” identified as “Police 11, Binondo, Manila.”

The team meets adult men and women, with no children present. Before the pandemic, over 100 inmates participated in the program that Manuben and her team organized during the term of then-President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

However, in recent times, the number has dropped and varies between 30 and 50 people. In this particular mission, the group faces numerous challenges, starting with the primary one of preparing food. “Before Sunday, we always prayed that God would touch someone to send us money to support the food program,” Manuben continued.

The second challenge is the police responsible for the district. The attitude of the police varies: some are indifferent and offer no support.

“However, we sometimes receive support from the more helpful officers,” the Christian leader emphasizes. The third challenge is our health. My wife Liz and I are currently facing health problems.“

For this reason, he continues, ”we always ask the Lord to grant us good health so that we can continue our mission for a long time. These people have the opportunity to experience God's mercy and love."

Every person, especially those deprived of personal freedom such as prisoners, should have “the opportunity to pray, contemplate (examine their conscience accompanied by instrumental music) and find hope for a return to God.”

That is why, Manuben warns, it is essential to “make prison a place of prayer.” “We hope,” she concludes, “that one day they will also be able to receive the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist.”

• Philippines
• nuns
• Franciscan sisters
• prisons
• human rights
• hope
• jubilee