Two months after his election, Pope John XXIII paid a visit to Rome’s Regina Coeli prison in 1958. “I know it’s tough”, he said to the prisoners. “One of my cousins ended up here”. A prisoner then broke through the security barrier, running and throwing himself on his knees at the Pope’s feet, asking, “Holy Father, I am a delinquent, is there also hope for me?” to which the Pope replied, “There is hope for all, there is also hope for you.”
We know that many people find faith in prison, while others rekindle their faith but when it gets to the point of release, only about one in five people choose to connect with their faith beyond the gates.
I work for the Welcome Directory; we are a multi‐faith organisation that support faith and belief communities, including a growing number of Catholic Churches, on how to reintegrate prison leavers safely. Prison leavers can face numerous obstacles upon re-joining society, and one of these can be the challenge of entering a place of worship, as they carry with them public stigma and the isolation that a time in prison imposes. Our vision is for all prison leavers with faith or belief to receive welcome, acceptance and belonging beyond the prison gates. We believe that everybody deserves to belong.
The Welcome Directory is available in every prison in England and Wales, as well as in all probation approved premises. Prison chaplains use the Welcome Directory to help facilitate connections between someone about to leave prison and a welcoming faith community. The Welcome Directory also works with leaders and members of faith communities – churches, temples, synagogues or mosques – to raise awareness of prison leavers’ needs. For Catholic communities considering welcoming prison leavers, the Welcome Directory’s online Prison Awareness Course also provides safety advice and guidelines.
We need more Catholic communities from across the country to join The Welcome Directory, because we know there are Catholic prison leavers who struggle to walk through the doors of our churches. All you need to do to join the Directory is show that you satisfy ‘the Four Ps’:
1. A Safeguarding Policy
2. Permission from your parish priest
3. A point of contact, also known as a ‘Champion’.
4. Prior experience with this kind of work, perhaps through working or volunteering in a prison or even helping with a local food bank or community project. Or you can attend the Prison Awareness Course instead.
The Welcome Directory’s success is evident from our statistics. In 2025, 1,446 connections were made by prison chaplains between prison leavers and registered communities in one year alone. Three hundred prison leavers were supported directly by registered faith communities, and 63% of the registered communities reported that prison leavers had not reoffended.
Being part of a community made up of people you can look up to provide space for prison leavers to turn their lives around – simply being part of a community, even if it is just helping out at a food bank or handing out hymn books at Mass, supports the research that fellowship desists individuals from crime. The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales’ report A Place of Redemption explicitly calls on churches to take part in this work and The Welcome Directory is a concrete step that every parish and deanery should consider. Dominic Cawdell
