Vatican City, Aug 25, 2017 / 05:01 am
Pope Francis on Thursday sent a video message to youth in a prison in Argentina who are part of a program helping them attend university while in jail, praising the program and speaking words of encouragement for their futures.
Those in prison "are serving a penalty, a penalty for a mistake committed," he said Aug. 24. "But let us not forget that, for punishment to be fruitful, it must have a horizon of hope, otherwise it is enclosed within itself and is only an instrument of torture, it is not fruitful."
Though "there are problems and there will be problems," he continued, "the horizon is bigger than the problems, hope goes beyond all the problems."
Pope Francis sent the four and half minute message to students in Argentina's Ezeiza Federal Penitentiary who are attending university while in prison. Located some 20 miles from where he used to live in Buenos Aires, the prison was once visited by the Argentine pope when he was a cardinal.