Catholic prisoners at the maximum security Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville, N.Y., were given a heartwarming gift recently. They received a pastoral visit from Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York one week before Archbishop Dolan was elected as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The archbishop offered Mass in the facility’s Chapel of St. Paul, which was beautifully built by the inmates back in the 1960s, thanks to their now-deceased chaplain, Msgr. Edward J. Donovan.
Archbishop Dolan, who now becomes “the most visible face of the church in the United States,” as The New York Times put it, opened his heart, telling the men that he had come to the prison “to let everyone know I love you very much.”
Then, with a broad smile, he continued: “You’re helping me look good before Jesus! When I stand one day before him, Jesus will not say, ‘How much money did you raise, how many churches did you visit?’ No, he will say, ‘Were you good to those in prison? And if so, you did it for me.’”
The smiling archbishop indicated that, “in case the Lord forgets, I’ll say, ‘Lord, if you check your book, you’ll see that on Nov. 10, at Green Haven …”
He was interrupted by resounding applause from the prisoners and the rest of we guests, who were there at the invitation of Father Gamini Fernando and Deacon Robert Buckner, Green Haven’s Catholic chaplains.
My personal invitation came from a longtime friend, Sister of St. Joseph Margaret Donovan, sister of the incredible Msgr. Ed Donovan, who died in 2008. I was a few years ahead of her as a student at the College of St. Rose in Albany, N.Y., back in the early 1950s. We became good associates when her brother invited me in 1996 to come to the chapel at Green Haven to give a “peace talk” to the Catholic inmates.
I had just written an article about Montana, which had brought back the death penalty and just carried out its first execution.
Why did I care?
Because my son John Bosco and his wife Nancy had recently been murdered in that state by an 18-year old who had invaded their home in the middle of the night, killing them in their bed with his 8-mm, semi-automatic gun. My remaining children and I, who had never believed in the death penalty, contacted the Montana judge, asking that the killer be spared the death penalty — and he was.
As for how Msgr. Donovan and the men ever managed to pay for the materials to build the stunning Chapel of St. Paul, they told me with a smile, “green stamps,” which were a popular “money-back” item back then.
I was thinking that Archbishop Dolan would probably enjoy hearing that story. Then, to my surprise, the inmates had a present for him: green stamps and their story in a glass-covered frame!
For me personally, that day brought back memories of the 10 years that I visited the prisoners at Green Haven. A great friend was still an altar server, and several in the St. Paul’s choir were still there, performing on the organ, with the guitar and their voices as beautifully as I remembered them.
I know this day will be remembered by all who were there, especially when Archbishop Dolan reminded the men that their St. Paul chapel was named for a saint who also spent time in prison!
So much needs to be done to humanize the criminal justice system. And I believe one of the best ways is to give inmates their own “sacred space” for religious services and private prayer, as I have found at the Chapel of St. Paul at Green Haven.
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