Emotions run high during pope’s prison visit in Argentina

Prison chaplain Father Matías de Martini said the pontiff’s visit to the prison reminds us that God “rejoices over the sheep that has been found, the son who returns home.”

Father Matías de Martini, chaplain of the Devoto prison in Buenos Aires, Argentina, could not hold back his tears as he thanked Pope Leo XIV for his visit to the penitentiary on Nov. 11 and for his genuine concern for the inmates.

The priest said the pontiff’s visit “reminds us once again that God does not consider anyone lost, that he rejoices over the lost sheep, the son who returns home.”

Pope fills prisoners with hope

On Nov. 11, Pope Leo XIV brought a message full of hope to the prisoners.

Addressing them, their families, and prison staff, he reflected on the “experience of our limitations” that human beings encounter. “Often,” he noted, “we become aware of our limitations through sin and its consequences, whether by making a mistake, suffering from an illness, or experiencing the death of a loved one.”

However, he said that, “even amid the evil, pain, and deepest failures you may have experienced or caused, your present circumstances can become an opportunity to begin your lives anew, as you have shared with us in your testimonies.”

The pope emphasized that “human beings do not flourish in spite of their limitations, but often through them,” and pointed out that “prison is also a witness to profound changes and conversions, to growth, learning, and the acquisition of new skills and knowledge.”

For this reason, he assured the prisoners that “with God’s grace, it is possible to move beyond total darkness and kindle small lights of hope.”

At the conclusion of his address, he turned to the families and encouraged them to look to Jesus, who was himself a prisoner, and to pray that he might “grant them all strength and wisdom, so that this time of solitude and isolation will not be in vain, but will become a time of grace and salvation.”

“We are part of the same human family. Let us promote whatever contributes to the good of all. Let us accompany especially our children and young people, educating them in authentic values, caring for them and protecting them, so that they do not fall into the pernicious networks of criminality,” the pope said.

De Martini thanked the pontiff, saying that “through your presence we feel the embrace of the Father, an embrace that makes no distinction based on the past, an embrace that reminds us of our dignity, something that nothing and no one can take away.”

The priest also recalled that “we are beloved children, and it is this truth — the deepest truth — that makes us completely free.”

‘Jesus transformed my life’

Cristian, 29, is an inmate who shared his testimony with the Holy Father. The young prisoner recounted the details of a past marked by drug and alcohol use which drove him to commit crimes to sustain his addiction.

“All of that ended up distancing me from my family and the people who love me. I lost my job; I lost everything,” he lamented. However, he continued, “Jesus transformed my life during the time I was living on the streets.”

The young man recounted with hope how he encountered Jesus after going to the prison chapel.

“There, I felt that I was not alone, that Jesus was with me, calling me to reencounter him. I decided to follow him, convinced that he is the true path. I felt him touch my heart. I allowed myself to be guided, and he removed the blindfold from my eyes. I was able to see reality, and that truth is what makes me free on the inside today. From that moment on, everything began to make sense,” he noted.

His time in prison is “transforming my life,” said 32-year-old Maximiliano, who also shared his testimony with the Holy Father.

He recalled how drugs and alcohol had distanced him from his family, especially his daughters. He said that while in prison, he found inner freedom through an encounter with Jesus.

Reinaldo, 44, recently completed his prison sentence and was able to reunite with his family and his four children.

He said prison was the setting “where Jesus, Our Lord and friend, offered me a new opportunity, a new life.”

Reinaldo described placing his faith in Jesus as “an embrace” that heals the soul. “Today, as each new day begins, I keep in mind what it was like to return to the arms of Jesus — that sincere embrace, that embrace of forgiveness, that embrace of a Father who loves his son; an embrace that instilled in me a new hope and a profound certainty of knowing that I am a beloved son.”

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.