Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 1025

IV

Ad XVII conventum Moderatorum Administrationum Carcerum Consilii Eu-

ropae.*

Your Excellency,

Deputy Secretary General,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am glad to be able to receive you on the occasion of your Conference and

I would like, first of all, to thank the Justice Minister of the Italian Govern-

ment, Professor Paola Severino, and the Deputy Secretary General of the

Council of Europe, Dr Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, for their words of greeting,

addressed to me on behalf of all present.

Matters of criminal justice are continually being brought to the attention

of the public and of governments, especially at a time when economic and

social inequalities and increasing individualism are feeding the roots of crim-

inality. There is a tendency, though, to limit the debate to the legislative

aspect of the question of crime and punishment or to the judicial process -

how best to arrive swiftly at a sentence that corresponds as closely as possible

to the true facts. Less attention is given to the way custodial sentences are

carried out. In this regard, alongside the parameter of ''justice'', another

essential element is respect for human dignity and human rights. Yet this

too, while indispensable and unfortunately still far from being observed in

many countries, is not enough to safeguard fully the rights of the individual.

A concrete commitment is needed, not just a statement of principle, in order

to bring about the offender's effective re-education, which is required both

for the sake of his own dignity and with a view to his reintegration into

society. The prisoner's personal need to undergo in prison a process of reha-

bilitation and maturation is actually a need of society itself, both because it

stands to regain someone who can make a useful contribution to the common

good, and also because such a process makes the prisoner less likely to re-

offend and thus endanger society. In recent years there has been considerable

progress, even if there is still a long way to go. It is not just a question of

releasing sufficient financial resources to make the prison environment more

dignified and to ensure more effective means of support and paths of forma-

* Die 22 Novembris 2012.