Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale1026

tion for prisoners: a change in mentality is also needed, so as to link the

debate regarding respect for the human rights of prisoners with the broader

debate concerning the actual implementation of criminal justice.

If human justice in this area is to look to divine justice and be shaped by

that higher vision, the re-educational purpose of the sentence must be re-

garded not as an ancillary or secondary aspect of the penal system, but rather

as its culminating and defining feature. In order to ''practise justice'', it is not

enough that those found guilty of crimes be simply punished: it is necessary

that in punishing them, everything possible be done to correct and improve

them. When this does not happen, justice is not done in an integral sense. In

any event, it is important to avoid giving rise to a situation where imprison-

ment that fails in its re-educational role becomes counter-educational and

paradoxically reinforces rather than overcomes the tendency to commit

crime and the threat posed to society by the individual.

As Directors of Prison Administration, you can make a significant con-

tribution, together with all those responsible for the administration of justice

in society, towards promoting this ''more genuine'' justice that is ''open to

the liberating power of love'' 1 and is tied to human dignity. Your role, in a

certain sense, is even more crucial than that of the legislators, since even

when adequate structures and resources are in place, the effectiveness of re-

educational strategies always depends on the sensitivity, ability and atten-

tiveness of those called to put into practice what is prescribed on paper. The

task of prison officers, at whatever level they operate, is by no means easy.

That is why today, through you, I would like to pay tribute to all those in

prison administration who carry out their duties with diligence and dedica-

tion. Contact with offenders paying the price for what they have done and

the commitment needed to restore dignity and hope to people who in many

cases have already suffered marginalization and scorn call to mind the mis-

sion of Christ himself, who came to call not the just, but sinners,2 the privi-

leged recipients of divine mercy. Everyone is called to become his brother's

keeper, transcending the homicidal indifference of Cain.3 You in particular

are asked to take custody of people who, in prison conditions, are at greater

risk of losing their sense of life's meaning and the value of personal dignity,

yielding instead to discouragement and despair. Profound respect for per-

1 John Paul II, Message for the Jubilee in Prisons, 9 July 2000. 2 Cfr Mt 9:13; Mk 2:17; Lk 5:32. 3 Cfr Gen 4:9.