Bibles behind bars
SALISBURY — Behind the barbed wire fence of Piedmont Correctional Institution, there is a renewed sense of hope thanks to the request of one prisoner who is focusing on his faith.
Instead of calling family or friends, he chose to call the Diocese of Charlotte Pastoral Center with a request – Bibles to distribute to some of the 951 inmates he now shares a home with.
“He picked up the phone and spent his own dime requesting Catholic Bibles,” said David Coe, interim prison ministry director for the diocese, who had the voicemail forwarded to him. “The message was stunning and beautiful. It’s just absolutely amazing, and that is what started the ball rolling.”
Months before, the diocese’s properties director, Dan Ward, had found boxes of unused Bibles in a storage room at the Pastoral Center. After asking around the building to no avail, he approached Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor, who advised him to reach out to other diocesan ministries.
When Coe received Ward’s call, he knew exactly who could benefit from the surplus.
Ward found himself boxing up a shipment of 50 English Bibles and sending them to Michael Becker, operations manager of Sacred Heart in Salisbury – the parish that serves Piedmont Correctional – to satisfy the request.
In addition to support from local churches, Coe and his team of volunteers visit prisons and jails across the diocese, bringing rosaries and donated Bibles and holding retreats at Mountain View Correctional in Hendersonville.
Since none of the Bibles were Spanish, Coe called another of his reliable sources, St. Benedict Press. They readily granted the request, shipping 50 brand-new, free Catholic Spanish Bibles to Sacred Heart.
“Whenever I ask, they never refuse,” Coe said. “It takes a team to make it work.”
The prison ministry at Sacred Heart had been on somewhat of a hiatus for the past five years due to COVID-19, but it is regaining traction, thanks to a combination of eager prisoners and volunteers.
Being Catholic in prison is sometimes a challenge. Since several faith communities vie for Piedmont’s Sunday services time slots, Mass is offered only once a month.
The once-a-month Sunday Mass is presided over by Sacred Heart’s pastor Father John Eckert within the prison chapel walls, and it has been getting more crowded, with about 25 regular attendees.
“Father Eckert has told me that there’s been a really good showing recently,” said Becker.
Prison Ministry volunteers like Eric Lawlor (brother of St. Therese’s pastor Father Mark Lawlor) come in once a week to study Scripture and pray the rosary, and Deacon
James Mazur stops in to bring Holy Communion.
Within the prison walls, Lawlor has witnessed prisoners come to the Catholic faith, later getting baptized on the outside after joining OCIA.
Coe said the magnitude of conversions he sees of people in prison who want to receive God’s love is extraordinary. “God is rescuing people behind bars and restoring their lives,” he said.
— Lisa M. Geraci