Santa Ana Jail Becomes Retreat for Soul-Weary

When the Catholic revival began, most of the 17 inmates stood stoically in their olive prison garb, staring straight ahead.

The initial turnout was poor enough that guards sent a last-minute invitation to Spanish-speaking prisoners in other sections in the Santa Ana Jail to participate if they’d like.

By Sunday afternoon, nearly 50 smiling prisoners mimicked the dance moves of the gospel singers, eagerly talked about their religious reawakening and shed tears of contrition. A few inmates who chose not to participate watched the proceedings intently through narrow windows in their cell doors.

The three-day “retreat” over the weekend for inmates in Module 3B was believed to be the first of its kind in Orange County and culminated in an emotional Mass and earnest testimonies Sunday afternoon.

“If I ever get out of here, I’m going back to church,” said inmate Walter Flores, 31. “It’s been 12 or 15 years since I’ve been in a church. [The sermons] bring back things that you left behind.”

Flores said he has never attended the jail’s weekly services, but the retreat, which began Friday, helped him reconnect to the Catholicism of his childhood. He hopes that religion, along with a high school diploma earned while in jail, will help him get by in the outside world.

“I’m just getting ready to hit the streets again and go a different route,” Flores said. “It just makes you want to live a different lifestyle.”

Other inmates said they had been looking forward to the retreat.

“It helps us to change our lives. It meant a lot to us that someone would do this for us,” said Jeremias Santillana, 25, who has spent 10 months in the jail and goes to trial Wednesday on charges of receiving stolen property.

Police officers guarding the inmates Sunday said they hoped the event will help bridge gaps among different groups of inmates.

“Having the races together, and having the gang members together, it brings them a little closer,” Senior Detention Officer Mynor Escobar said.

Jail Chaplain Gregorio Martinez said he and volunteers of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s Catholic Detention Ministry organized the event to reintroduce the prisoners to God’s love.

To participate in the event, inmates were allowed out of their cells for a few hours each day. They stayed in their ward, however, in the common area surrounded by cells.

The ministry, led by Father Brendan Smith, serves more than 6,000 adults and 1,000 juveniles in Orange County jails.

“For so many of them, [jail] is like being buried alive,” Smith said after the event ended Sunday with loud cheering and hand-clapping. “They have no contact with the outside world. It’s important for them to have someone who wants to be with them.”

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On Sunday, an eight-member band played gospel songs with Mexican rhythms while inmates sang along in Spanish.

The group also brought in a crucifix, tablecloths and a poster of Jesus and Mary to create a makeshift church just outside the prisoner’s cells.

Martinez ended a prayer session Sunday by asking inmates to pray for the victims of their crimes.

“The retreat’s brought lots of tears--of reconciliation and forgiveness,” said Martinez, who quit his job as a mechanic in 1990 to work full time in the jail.

“They’ve had a lot of suffering themselves and have felt a lot of the suffering they have caused their victims,” he said.

Martinez said he hopes the success of the inaugural event will open prison doors across the county for similar Catholic retreats.

“If they allow us to do it, we’ll do it,” he said.