{"id":21924,"date":"2017-09-08T20:25:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T20:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-37086\/"},"modified":"2017-09-08T20:25:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T20:25:00","slug":"prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Prisoners in Colombia unite in prayer for Pope Francis&#8217; visit"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Jail_prison_Credit_FreeBirdPhotos_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Bogot\u00e1, Colombia, Sep 8, 2017 \/ 02:25 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Prison inmates from jails around Colombia prepared themselves spiritually for the Pope's visit to their country through prayers, letters, messages, and watching his arrival to their country on television.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Pope Francis\u2019s Sept. 6-10 trip to Colombia does not include a visit to a penitentiary, the Pope's visit has been viewed as a sign of peace and serenity for persons deprived of their liberty. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The trip holds even more special meaning for those who have asked that the government consider the Jubilee Law, through which inmates with minor offenses are granted a reduction of their sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Encouraged through the country's Catholic Penitentiary Ministry and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, inmates of the various prison centers throughout the country prepared spiritually for the Pope\u2019s visit. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Edgar Galeano, chaplain at Colombia\u2019s Model Jail in Bogota, explained that the inmates in his prison participated in prayer groups, daily recitation of the Rosary, and reading sacred scripture. In addition, every block read a book called \u201cTake the First Step\u201d in order to develop ten spiritual encounters on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, in the penitentiary centers, liturgical celebrations were held with the motto \u201cPope Francis: the prisoners in Colombia are praying for you.\u201d During the services, they asked for forgiveness for their personal sins and lit candles to pray for the protection of Pope Francis on his journey.<\/p>\n<p>One of the inmates of Block 3 began painting a picture of Pope Francis three years ago. \u201cThree years ago the initiative was born, a hope, a faith was born. Something in my heart told me that it would be a nice gesture to give something to a representative of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aldo, another one of the prison inmates, wrote a letter to the pontiff in which he said: \u201cIf I could speak to you personally, Pope Francis, I would ask you to perform three miracles: Forgive all my mistakes and all the times I have hurt others; to return to be a child with the memories lived, having repented of having done bad things; I do not want to move away from my family. I would like to start over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Manuel Guti\u00e9rrez, a spokesman for the Building New and Better Roads Corporation in Bucaramanga, Colombia told the Colombian outlet Vanguardia that the letters written by the inmates are due to be delivered on Sept. 9 to Pope Francis, during his visit to Medellin.<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=6t3qxZlT2E0:rkT8vx_RJiU:yIl2AUoC8zA\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/6t3qxZlT2E0\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Jail_prison_Credit_FreeBirdPhotos_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, Sep 8, 2017 \/ 02:25 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" target=\"_self\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Prison inmates from jails around Colombia prepared themselves spiritually for the Pope&#8217;s visit to their country through prayers, letters, messages, and watching his arrival to their country on television.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Pope Francis&rsquo;s Sept. 6-10 trip to Colombia does not include a visit to a penitentiary, the Pope&#8217;s visit has been viewed as a sign of peace and serenity for persons deprived of their liberty. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The trip holds even more special meaning for those who have asked that the government consider the Jubilee Law, through which inmates with minor offenses are granted a reduction of their sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Encouraged through the country&#8217;s Catholic Penitentiary Ministry and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, inmates of the various prison centers throughout the country prepared spiritually for the Pope&rsquo;s visit. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Edgar Galeano, chaplain at Colombia&rsquo;s Model Jail in Bogota, explained that the inmates in his prison participated in prayer groups, daily recitation of the Rosary, and reading sacred scripture. In addition, every block read a book called &ldquo;Take the First Step&rdquo; in order to develop ten spiritual encounters on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, in the penitentiary centers, liturgical celebrations were held with the motto &ldquo;Pope Francis: the prisoners in Colombia are praying for you.&rdquo; During the services, they asked for forgiveness for their personal sins and lit candles to pray for the protection of Pope Francis on his journey.<\/p>\n<p>One of the inmates of Block 3 began painting a picture of Pope Francis three years ago. &ldquo;Three years ago the initiative was born, a hope, a faith was born. Something in my heart told me that it would be a nice gesture to give something to a representative of Jesus.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Aldo, another one of the prison inmates, wrote a letter to the pontiff in which he said: &ldquo;If I could speak to you personally, Pope Francis, I would ask you to perform three miracles: Forgive all my mistakes and all the times I have hurt others; to return to be a child with the memories lived, having repented of having done bad things; I do not want to move away from my family. I would like to start over.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Manuel Guti&eacute;rrez, a spokesman for the Building New and Better Roads Corporation in Bucaramanga, Colombia told the Colombian outlet Vanguardia that the letters written by the inmates are due to be delivered on Sept. 9 to Pope Francis, during his visit to Medellin.<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=6t3qxZlT2E0:rkT8vx_RJiU:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/6t3qxZlT2E0\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-americas"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Prisoners in Colombia unite in prayer for Pope Francis&#039; visit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, Sep 8, 2017 \/ 02:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Prison inmates from jails around Colombia prepared themselves spiritually for the Pope&#039;s visit to their country through prayers, letters, messages, and watching his arrival to their country on television. Although the Pope Francis&rsquo;s Sept. 6-10 trip to Colombia does not include a visit to a penitentiary, the Pope&#039;s visit has been viewed as a sign of peace and serenity for persons deprived of their liberty. &nbsp; The trip holds even more special meaning for those who have asked that the government consider the Jubilee Law, through which inmates with minor offenses are granted a reduction of their sentence. Encouraged through the country&#039;s Catholic Penitentiary Ministry and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, inmates of the various prison centers throughout the country prepared spiritually for the Pope&rsquo;s visit. &nbsp; Fr. Edgar Galeano, chaplain at Colombia&rsquo;s Model Jail in Bogota, explained that the inmates in his prison participated in prayer groups, daily recitation of the Rosary, and reading sacred scripture. In addition, every block read a book called &ldquo;Take the First Step&rdquo; in order to develop ten spiritual encounters on a weekly basis. Likewise, in the penitentiary centers, liturgical celebrations were held with the motto &ldquo;Pope Francis: the prisoners in Colombia are praying for you.&rdquo; During the services, they asked for forgiveness for their personal sins and lit candles to pray for the protection of Pope Francis on his journey. One of the inmates of Block 3 began painting a picture of Pope Francis three years ago. &ldquo;Three years ago the initiative was born, a hope, a faith was born. Something in my heart told me that it would be a nice gesture to give something to a representative of Jesus.&rdquo; Aldo, another one of the prison inmates, wrote a letter to the pontiff in which he said: &ldquo;If I could speak to you personally, Pope Francis, I would ask you to perform three miracles: Forgive all my mistakes and all the times I have hurt others; to return to be a child with the memories lived, having repented of having done bad things; I do not want to move away from my family. I would like to start over.&rdquo; Carlos Manuel Guti&eacute;rrez, a spokesman for the Building New and Better Roads Corporation in Bucaramanga, Colombia told the Colombian outlet Vanguardia that the letters written by the inmates are due to be delivered on Sept. 9 to Pope Francis, during his visit to Medellin.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prisoners in Colombia unite in prayer for Pope Francis&#039; visit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, Sep 8, 2017 \/ 02:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Prison inmates from jails around Colombia prepared themselves spiritually for the Pope&#039;s visit to their country through prayers, letters, messages, and watching his arrival to their country on television. Although the Pope Francis&rsquo;s Sept. 6-10 trip to Colombia does not include a visit to a penitentiary, the Pope&#039;s visit has been viewed as a sign of peace and serenity for persons deprived of their liberty. &nbsp; The trip holds even more special meaning for those who have asked that the government consider the Jubilee Law, through which inmates with minor offenses are granted a reduction of their sentence. Encouraged through the country&#039;s Catholic Penitentiary Ministry and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, inmates of the various prison centers throughout the country prepared spiritually for the Pope&rsquo;s visit. &nbsp; Fr. Edgar Galeano, chaplain at Colombia&rsquo;s Model Jail in Bogota, explained that the inmates in his prison participated in prayer groups, daily recitation of the Rosary, and reading sacred scripture. In addition, every block read a book called &ldquo;Take the First Step&rdquo; in order to develop ten spiritual encounters on a weekly basis. Likewise, in the penitentiary centers, liturgical celebrations were held with the motto &ldquo;Pope Francis: the prisoners in Colombia are praying for you.&rdquo; During the services, they asked for forgiveness for their personal sins and lit candles to pray for the protection of Pope Francis on his journey. One of the inmates of Block 3 began painting a picture of Pope Francis three years ago. &ldquo;Three years ago the initiative was born, a hope, a faith was born. Something in my heart told me that it would be a nice gesture to give something to a representative of Jesus.&rdquo; Aldo, another one of the prison inmates, wrote a letter to the pontiff in which he said: &ldquo;If I could speak to you personally, Pope Francis, I would ask you to perform three miracles: Forgive all my mistakes and all the times I have hurt others; to return to be a child with the memories lived, having repented of having done bad things; I do not want to move away from my family. I would like to start over.&rdquo; Carlos Manuel Guti&eacute;rrez, a spokesman for the Building New and Better Roads Corporation in Bucaramanga, Colombia told the Colombian outlet Vanguardia that the letters written by the inmates are due to be delivered on Sept. 9 to Pope Francis, during his visit to Medellin.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-08T20:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Jail_prison_Credit_FreeBirdPhotos_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/\",\"name\":\"Prisoners in Colombia unite in prayer for Pope Francis' visit\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-08T20:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-08T20:25:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, Sep 8, 2017 \/ 02:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Prison inmates from jails around Colombia prepared themselves spiritually for the Pope's visit to their country through prayers, letters, messages, and watching his arrival to their country on television. Although the Pope Francis&rsquo;s Sept. 6-10 trip to Colombia does not include a visit to a penitentiary, the Pope's visit has been viewed as a sign of peace and serenity for persons deprived of their liberty. &nbsp; The trip holds even more special meaning for those who have asked that the government consider the Jubilee Law, through which inmates with minor offenses are granted a reduction of their sentence. Encouraged through the country's Catholic Penitentiary Ministry and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, inmates of the various prison centers throughout the country prepared spiritually for the Pope&rsquo;s visit. &nbsp; Fr. Edgar Galeano, chaplain at Colombia&rsquo;s Model Jail in Bogota, explained that the inmates in his prison participated in prayer groups, daily recitation of the Rosary, and reading sacred scripture. In addition, every block read a book called &ldquo;Take the First Step&rdquo; in order to develop ten spiritual encounters on a weekly basis. Likewise, in the penitentiary centers, liturgical celebrations were held with the motto &ldquo;Pope Francis: the prisoners in Colombia are praying for you.&rdquo; During the services, they asked for forgiveness for their personal sins and lit candles to pray for the protection of Pope Francis on his journey. One of the inmates of Block 3 began painting a picture of Pope Francis three years ago. &ldquo;Three years ago the initiative was born, a hope, a faith was born. Something in my heart told me that it would be a nice gesture to give something to a representative of Jesus.&rdquo; Aldo, another one of the prison inmates, wrote a letter to the pontiff in which he said: &ldquo;If I could speak to you personally, Pope Francis, I would ask you to perform three miracles: Forgive all my mistakes and all the times I have hurt others; to return to be a child with the memories lived, having repented of having done bad things; I do not want to move away from my family. I would like to start over.&rdquo; Carlos Manuel Guti&eacute;rrez, a spokesman for the Building New and Better Roads Corporation in Bucaramanga, Colombia told the Colombian outlet Vanguardia that the letters written by the inmates are due to be delivered on Sept. 9 to Pope Francis, during his visit to Medellin.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Prisoners in Colombia unite in prayer for Pope Francis&#8217; visit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Prisoners in Colombia unite in prayer for Pope Francis' visit","description":"Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, Sep 8, 2017 \/ 02:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Prison inmates from jails around Colombia prepared themselves spiritually for the Pope's visit to their country through prayers, letters, messages, and watching his arrival to their country on television. Although the Pope Francis&rsquo;s Sept. 6-10 trip to Colombia does not include a visit to a penitentiary, the Pope's visit has been viewed as a sign of peace and serenity for persons deprived of their liberty. &nbsp; The trip holds even more special meaning for those who have asked that the government consider the Jubilee Law, through which inmates with minor offenses are granted a reduction of their sentence. Encouraged through the country's Catholic Penitentiary Ministry and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, inmates of the various prison centers throughout the country prepared spiritually for the Pope&rsquo;s visit. &nbsp; Fr. Edgar Galeano, chaplain at Colombia&rsquo;s Model Jail in Bogota, explained that the inmates in his prison participated in prayer groups, daily recitation of the Rosary, and reading sacred scripture. In addition, every block read a book called &ldquo;Take the First Step&rdquo; in order to develop ten spiritual encounters on a weekly basis. Likewise, in the penitentiary centers, liturgical celebrations were held with the motto &ldquo;Pope Francis: the prisoners in Colombia are praying for you.&rdquo; During the services, they asked for forgiveness for their personal sins and lit candles to pray for the protection of Pope Francis on his journey. One of the inmates of Block 3 began painting a picture of Pope Francis three years ago. &ldquo;Three years ago the initiative was born, a hope, a faith was born. Something in my heart told me that it would be a nice gesture to give something to a representative of Jesus.&rdquo; Aldo, another one of the prison inmates, wrote a letter to the pontiff in which he said: &ldquo;If I could speak to you personally, Pope Francis, I would ask you to perform three miracles: Forgive all my mistakes and all the times I have hurt others; to return to be a child with the memories lived, having repented of having done bad things; I do not want to move away from my family. I would like to start over.&rdquo; Carlos Manuel Guti&eacute;rrez, a spokesman for the Building New and Better Roads Corporation in Bucaramanga, Colombia told the Colombian outlet Vanguardia that the letters written by the inmates are due to be delivered on Sept. 9 to Pope Francis, during his visit to Medellin.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Prisoners in Colombia unite in prayer for Pope Francis' visit","og_description":"Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, Sep 8, 2017 \/ 02:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Prison inmates from jails around Colombia prepared themselves spiritually for the Pope's visit to their country through prayers, letters, messages, and watching his arrival to their country on television. Although the Pope Francis&rsquo;s Sept. 6-10 trip to Colombia does not include a visit to a penitentiary, the Pope's visit has been viewed as a sign of peace and serenity for persons deprived of their liberty. &nbsp; The trip holds even more special meaning for those who have asked that the government consider the Jubilee Law, through which inmates with minor offenses are granted a reduction of their sentence. Encouraged through the country's Catholic Penitentiary Ministry and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, inmates of the various prison centers throughout the country prepared spiritually for the Pope&rsquo;s visit. &nbsp; Fr. Edgar Galeano, chaplain at Colombia&rsquo;s Model Jail in Bogota, explained that the inmates in his prison participated in prayer groups, daily recitation of the Rosary, and reading sacred scripture. In addition, every block read a book called &ldquo;Take the First Step&rdquo; in order to develop ten spiritual encounters on a weekly basis. Likewise, in the penitentiary centers, liturgical celebrations were held with the motto &ldquo;Pope Francis: the prisoners in Colombia are praying for you.&rdquo; During the services, they asked for forgiveness for their personal sins and lit candles to pray for the protection of Pope Francis on his journey. One of the inmates of Block 3 began painting a picture of Pope Francis three years ago. &ldquo;Three years ago the initiative was born, a hope, a faith was born. Something in my heart told me that it would be a nice gesture to give something to a representative of Jesus.&rdquo; Aldo, another one of the prison inmates, wrote a letter to the pontiff in which he said: &ldquo;If I could speak to you personally, Pope Francis, I would ask you to perform three miracles: Forgive all my mistakes and all the times I have hurt others; to return to be a child with the memories lived, having repented of having done bad things; I do not want to move away from my family. I would like to start over.&rdquo; Carlos Manuel Guti&eacute;rrez, a spokesman for the Building New and Better Roads Corporation in Bucaramanga, Colombia told the Colombian outlet Vanguardia that the letters written by the inmates are due to be delivered on Sept. 9 to Pope Francis, during his visit to Medellin.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2017-09-08T20:25:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Jail_prison_Credit_FreeBirdPhotos_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/","name":"Prisoners in Colombia unite in prayer for Pope Francis' visit","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-09-08T20:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-09-08T20:25:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, Sep 8, 2017 \/ 02:25 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Prison inmates from jails around Colombia prepared themselves spiritually for the Pope's visit to their country through prayers, letters, messages, and watching his arrival to their country on television. Although the Pope Francis&rsquo;s Sept. 6-10 trip to Colombia does not include a visit to a penitentiary, the Pope's visit has been viewed as a sign of peace and serenity for persons deprived of their liberty. &nbsp; The trip holds even more special meaning for those who have asked that the government consider the Jubilee Law, through which inmates with minor offenses are granted a reduction of their sentence. Encouraged through the country's Catholic Penitentiary Ministry and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, inmates of the various prison centers throughout the country prepared spiritually for the Pope&rsquo;s visit. &nbsp; Fr. Edgar Galeano, chaplain at Colombia&rsquo;s Model Jail in Bogota, explained that the inmates in his prison participated in prayer groups, daily recitation of the Rosary, and reading sacred scripture. In addition, every block read a book called &ldquo;Take the First Step&rdquo; in order to develop ten spiritual encounters on a weekly basis. Likewise, in the penitentiary centers, liturgical celebrations were held with the motto &ldquo;Pope Francis: the prisoners in Colombia are praying for you.&rdquo; During the services, they asked for forgiveness for their personal sins and lit candles to pray for the protection of Pope Francis on his journey. One of the inmates of Block 3 began painting a picture of Pope Francis three years ago. &ldquo;Three years ago the initiative was born, a hope, a faith was born. Something in my heart told me that it would be a nice gesture to give something to a representative of Jesus.&rdquo; Aldo, another one of the prison inmates, wrote a letter to the pontiff in which he said: &ldquo;If I could speak to you personally, Pope Francis, I would ask you to perform three miracles: Forgive all my mistakes and all the times I have hurt others; to return to be a child with the memories lived, having repented of having done bad things; I do not want to move away from my family. I would like to start over.&rdquo; Carlos Manuel Guti&eacute;rrez, a spokesman for the Building New and Better Roads Corporation in Bucaramanga, Colombia told the Colombian outlet Vanguardia that the letters written by the inmates are due to be delivered on Sept. 9 to Pope Francis, during his visit to Medellin.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/09\/prisoners-in-colombia-unite-in-prayer-for-pope-francis-visit-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Prisoners in Colombia unite in prayer for Pope Francis&#8217; visit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21924\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}