Paul Keenan500 youngsters pen messages
Pope Francis has been moved to issue a message to 500 young prisoners in the United States after they sent letters to him.
The letters were penned by the youngsters, dealing with their imprisonment ñ all were sentenced with no chance of parole – at the prompting of Fr Michael Kennedy, director of the Jesuit Restorative Justice Initiative, who then submitted them to Rome.
“I have read the letters…Their stories and their plea that this form of sentencing be reviewed in the light of justice and the possibility of reform and rehabilitation, moved me deeply,” the Pope said in his message.
The Pontiff further indicated that all prisoners who wrote a letter will receive an individual reply from him in due course.