The nun, go. Maria Pia, who has been a volunteer at the institution for many years, talks about the atmosphere of expectation that precedes tomorrow afternoon (28), when Francisco will celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in the Roman prison: the women prisoners still feel an enormous feeling of guilt “for the suffering they cause an elderly mother or, even worse, a small child they cannot see grow up.”
Roberta Barbi – Vatican City
The women at the Rebibbia penitentiary, which Pope Francis will visit tomorrow, March 28, in the afternoon, on Maundy Thursday, to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and the rite of washing of the feet, are more smiling. “For days they have been in disbelief, as soon as they see us they ask if it is true and when they realize they are happy, they say that the Pope really wants to love people who suffer”, Sister Maria Pia Iammarino, tells Vatican Radio – Vatican News – from the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, who has dedicated herself to prison ministry for years and is a volunteer at the institution. So, the nun continues, “some of them are upset because they think they run the risk of not participating in the mass, but it must be said that the director is making great efforts so that the majority of inmates can be present.”
Never lose hope
When visiting a penal institution, the Pope often recommends inmates to never lose hope, to always look to Jesus, who never disappoints and never tires of loving, forgiving and embracing us. “All this is communicated to the prisoners with gestures”, explains Sister Maria Pia, “I must not tell them that God loves them, but be a witness to the love that God has for them, have a look of benevolence and acceptance without judgement” . Then, after gaining their trust, you can also act with words: “Often they precede us”, says the nun, “often they report that they feel loved by God in their daily life in the cell. They are also a strong experience of evangelization for us who go to visit them”.
Sister among sisters
Sister Maria Pia is a religious, volunteer, but, above all, a woman who is with other women who live a double drama in their condition of detention: “I was in the men’s and women’s sections, there is always a lot of suffering, but for the women “, he acknowledges, “it’s more difficult. They feel a great sense of guilt for the crime they committed and an even greater sense of guilt for the suffering they caused outside, to an elderly mother or, even worse, to a small child who cannot to see grow up, who they cannot accompany to school every day, who they cannot be at their side in moments of pain or illness”. Sister Maria Pia hears this pain, like a friend: “I approach them with simplicity, I am a woman alongside other women and I live with them; I still remember the first time I entered the Rebibbia penitentiary and an inmate told me He said I had been kind for not being afraid of them.”
Giving and receiving mercy
Regarding the celebration with Pope Francis, Sister Maria Pia hopes that the inmates of Rebibbia can keep with them forever the joy of the Holy Father and their absolute faith in God’s mercy: “As he says, we can give mercy because we first received it I hope”, concludes the volunteer nun, “that they can experience this fullness in their relationships with each other and with members of their families. And do not forget hope, without which there is no possibility of building the future”.
