By Chris Valley

“Dealing with men facing death is a lot more intense than general parish ministry.” The man speaking should know. He is Father Richard Wise, assistant pastor of St. Philip Benizi Church in Jonesboro, and involved in ministry to Death Row inmates at the Jackson Diagnostic Center.

While individuals in a parish may be terminally ill, their families and other parishioners help in ministry to them. On Death Row, the whole inmate population is under the death sentence. “Ministry on Death Row is very much for real. There is no game playing there,” Father Wise observes.

Father Wise began visiting inmates on Death Row three years ago. A prisoner whom he was visiting in the Cobb County Jail was sentenced to Death Row when it was located in Reidsville. The chaplain at Reidsville asked Father Wise to get involved with Death Row prisoners on a regular basis.

Every Wednesday, Father is at the Jackson Diagnostic Center visiting inmates, hearing confessions and counseling. Mass is celebrated on Wednesday evenings. Deacon Tom Slagle from Sacred Heart parish in Griffin helps out on Wednesday evenings. A parishioner from St. Philip Benizi parish assists in visiting prisoners.

“Every Wednesday they (the prisoners) know I’m there,” comments Father Wise. “While I actively seek out the Catholics who are inmates, I am available to anyone. I visit the Catholics in their cellblocks. When you visit one man in a cellblock, you visit with them all. Some men seek me out because as a chaplain there are things you can do which no guard can, such as being in contact with the family of a prisoner.”

“Families of prisoners are very much neglected,” Father continues. “As are non-criminal legal problems facing prisoners, such as bankruptcy, foreclosure on the family’s home or eviction. This neglect is tragic. Even though a man has done serious wrong, there is still his family back there (in society), and they’re hurting.”

Besides counseling and celebrating sacraments, Father Wise tries to link up prisoners with educational programs. One prisoner wants to do further study in theology. Father has put him in contact with a professor at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago for a correspondence course. Another is taking the Knights of Columbus correspondence course in the Catholic faith. Father hopes to do more of this educational linkage work.

“When you’re there, it’s ministry in a pressure cooker. Guards put pressure on the prisoners, and the prisoners put pressure on the guards. And you’re there in the midst of it all. The guards as well as the prisoners require the priest’s attention. Guards may have family problems, financial problems, other personal situations which place them under stress. A guard is always in jeopardy of being attacked. In some instances abuse is directed against them, such as human waste being thrown.”

There are over 120 prisoners awaiting execution in Georgia. Almost all are at the Jackson Diagnostic Center. Ten of these inmates are Catholic. Father Wise sees six of the Catholics on a weekly basis.

“The Lord has to call you to this ministry. You don’t just choose it. It’s demanding, depressing and you get burnt-out fast,” Father notes.

Working with prisoners has given Father Wise insight into some of the problems and issues in the criminal justice system which he feels Georgians need to address.

“The most obvious need is for more uniform sentencing throughout the state,” observes Father Wise. “Sentences vary greatly between South Georgia and, for example, Fulton County. Prisoners do compare notes. Very different sentences for very similar crimes makes for bitterness, anger and cynicism.

“There has to be greater awareness on the part of the taxpayers as to where their tax dollars are going and what they are getting for those dollars. There’s a strong myth that we are babying prisoners, that prisons are country clubs. The reality is that conditions are very bad. There is massive overcrowding. For a brief time this year, overcrowding was so bad that raw sewage from the Jackson facility was dumped into the river because the sewage filtration system could not handle it all.

“In this state, a person is automatically tried as an adult at 17 years old, but can be tried as an adult as young as seven years old. I know a boy of 14 with a 20-year prison term. He will leave prison with no education, be out on the street 36 to 48 hours, and then back in jail. That’s the typical pattern.

“As a state, we’ve looked for the easy answers. More DUI (drunk driving) offenders are being sentenced to jail. Some 38% of the Georgia prison population is in for property offenses, non-violent crimes. We tend to look at restitution centers, mandatory counseling for habitual DUI offenders, and more preventive work. Family counseling and crisis intervention can help solve problems which lead to criminal acts.

“But the greatest problem in our prison system is the immense boredom. Prison time is non-productive time. There is no training in marketable skills. The only product of prison is bitterness.”

This is especially so on Death Row, Father maintains. “Men on Death Row need people to write to them. Many have been disowned by their families. They committed the sin of murder. When I absolve from sin, it’s in the name of Christ and His Church. It’s incumbent on the Church to show Christ’s mercy to these men. I know people will say, ‘well, they never showed mercy to their victims.’ But that is not the point. Pope Callistus I (A.D. 217-222) was the first pope to formally teach that murderers should be forgiven. The state says that murderers should be killed. But if we are truly the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, we must be the ones who show mercy to these men and to their families.

Anyone who would like to begin correspondence with a prisoner on Death Row may contact Father Wise at St. Philip Benizi parish (404) 478-0178. If anyone wants to visit with prisoners, the Georgia Department of Offender Rehabilitation Volunteer Services Program should be contacted at (404) 656-4582.