Saying a Special Prayer for Inmates Worldwide

Desperately alone in his dark world, 20-year-old Jesus Orbina began to shake and cry uncontrollably when a message delivered to prisoners throughout the world Sunday came to him inside the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail.

You have not been forgotten, the suicidal Orbina was told. People out there love you.

With similar spiritual messages of healing and forgiveness, Roman Catholic bishops across the continents celebrated Sunday Mass for the incarcerated as part of “Jubilee in the Prisons of the World.”

Pope John Paul II designated July 9 as a Jubilee day to draw attention to the world’s prisoners and called for a worldwide reduction of jail sentences as a sign of goodwill during the millennial Holy Year.

In Southern California, Archbishop of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony and about 20 other bishops held services in more than 50 prisons, jails, juvenile halls and INS detention centers in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Orange.

“Please, open your hearts so that Christ may enter,” Mahony urged about 230 inmates during a morning Mass inside the chapel of Men’s Central Jail. “Some people think: ‘Because I’m a sinner and maybe committed some crimes, the Lord cannot love me.’ Well, that’s not true.”

The theme echoed throughout the services was one of forgiveness and reconciliation by crime victims, family members of prisoners, and inmates themselves.

At Central Juvenile Hall, more than 400 young men and women--from ages 8 to 18--gathered in the courtyard for an outdoor service celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala.

In one of the more moving testimonies, a blond, freckle-faced 18-year-old named Liz recounted how being sexually abused by her stepfather when she was 9 had led her to commit crimes.

Liz said the day everyone found out about the sexual abuse, her stepfather killed himself.

“Today . . . I realize that my stepfather was not a monster. He was a man. A sick man, but a man nonetheless, and I have forgiven him,” she said through tears. “The hate that was inside me led me to do many things I regret today. If only I had found a way to forgive him earlier, I could have gone on with my life.”

Vestments and Uniforms

Inside Men’s Central Jail, Mahony was joined by Bishop Tod Brown of the Diocese of Orange and Bishop George Niederauer of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Niederauer was in Los Angeles to attend the national Catholic multicultural convention, Encuentro 2000, which ended Sunday. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca also attended the Mass at Men’s Central Jail.

In their emerald green vestments, church officials stood in contrast to the prisoners, a sea of navy blue, lime green and white in their county-issued uniforms. While accepting Communion, most of the inmates kept their hands in their pockets, a county policy meant to guard against outbreaks of violence.

During the homily, Mahony called on the men to take responsibility for their wrongs and to seek redemption from God.

“No one can force Jesus Christ into your life,” Mahony said. “We have to allow him in our hearts so he can change us.”

Father George Horan, the chaplain at Men’s Central Jail who organized dialogues between prisoners and church volunteers after the Mass, said society tends to dehumanize its prisoners.

“If the Humane Society came and saw some of the cells these men live in, they wouldn’t stand for it,” Horan said. “If we demonize people, we make places like this possible. But, if we sit down and talk to them, we realize, they’re just like us.”

Mahony called on politicians to support rehabilitation programs in local prisons and jails. He said it was time to reject revenge as a guiding principle for social policy.

“It isn’t enough to just think about punishing prisoners,” he said.

Over the past year, California bishops have been leading delegations to examine prison conditions throughout the state. Later this year, the bishops will issue a report with recommendations for the church’s ministry and for the California Department of Corrections.

Despite recent outbreaks of violence inside Men’s Central, Lancaster State Prison and Pitchess Detention Center, Baca defended the conditions for prisoners, saying, “the atmosphere inside the county’s jails is very humane.”

Inmate Moses Sanderson, 46, disagreed. But Sanderson said the opportunity for rehabilitation is there for those who want it.

A new Christian with a hearty laugh, Sanderson--who has been in and out of jail much of his life for selling drugs--participated in the dialogues held at Men’s Central.

“It is hell in here and I’m living with demons all around me,” Sanderson said.

Still, he said, after finding God during a sentence that ends in five years, “If I die in prison, I don’t care anymore.

“My soul is free,” he said. “People in here are possessed by demons, but I’m not afraid.”

A few miles away at Central Juvenile Hall, staff members and volunteers created an outdoor sanctuary with a colorful arch of balloons and an altar draped in white surrounded by candles, fresh flowers, and puffs of tulle. A long white runner strewn with rose petals served as a Communion path leading from the back of the grassy courtyard to the altar. Volunteers wore T-shirts that quoted a passage from the Gospel of Matthew, “I was in jail, and you visited me.”

Minutes before the service began, hundreds of teenagers in bright orange jumpsuits walked out of their units, each carrying the plastic chairs that would be their personal pew for the Mass. Former gang members took their seats, bowing their heads in prayer.

During the service organized by Catholic Chaplain Javier Stauring, juveniles heard emotional testimonies from victims of crime, including Johnny Tremain, who was shot five times, and Johnny Licon, whose son was bound with rope and killed.

Martin Avalos and his wife, Leticia, whose son is serving time in state prison, delivered a plea to parents of juveniles to visit their children.

“Don’t abandon them. Good or bad, they are your children. These are the hours when they need you more than ever,” Martin Avalos said.

Toward the end of the service, a flock of doves was released into the sky as a sign of God’s peace.

Liz, who has been at juvenile hall for more than a year, said she hoped the day would generate compassion for young offenders.

“A lot of us come in here and change completely. We’re truly sorry for what we did. I think about my victim of crime every day,” she said. “If there was anything I could do to change what I did, I would. I really would.”

Similar services were held throughout the region.

At Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, New Mexico Bishop Ricardo Ramirez celebrated a Mass for about 300 youths.

“What we have done has caused pain to others,” Ramirez told the crowd. “What we have done has contributed to violence in the world. It’s time to change our hearts, so we may become a presence of unity in the world.”

In Orange County, inmate Manuel Gonzalez Palma said he didn’t plan to go to Mass Sunday morning until he heard God calling his name.

The voice brought him to the yard at Santa Ana Jail, a gray cinder-block room where he and about 50 federal inmates heard a special Mass for prisoners.

At Mass’ close, prisoners shouted the name of Christ in unison, and Palma leaped to the microphone to sing.

“I felt chills,” he said. “I was singing a song for the Lord.”

*

Times staff writers Edgar Sandoval and Willoughby Mariano contributed to this story.