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The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) launched its new Social Justice Department document “Remember Me - A Catholic Approach to Criminal Justice” last week at an event in Westminster attended by parliamentarians, charities, and experts from a range of academic, policy and legal backgrounds.

Speaking in his role as Liaison Bishop for Prisons, Bishop Richard emphasised that an effective criminal justice system must honour the innate dignity of every human being, and further the common good. Addressing those assembled he said:

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“This is a good moment to launch this document… to highlight the threat to human dignity in the criminal justice system and emphasize the innate dignity of every human person as someone created by God. That cannot be taken away. We see threats to that dignity in the criminal justice system as it is. We want to promote the common good in our courts, our prisons, and in civil society: charities, civil groups, parishes, and families.”

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He added:

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“For a long time, the Catholic Church in this country has promoted the common good…Our Catholic vision means that justice needs to be restorative. It includes care for victims, appropriate punishment for offenders, and then rehabilitation to reform prisoners and give them the chance at redemption. Punishment might be a vote-winner but it does not promote the common good. We need just punishment.”

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Faith and civil society

Bishop Richard explained the important role faith, parishes and civil society plays in the redemption journey of prisoners: “As a community of faith, it is of crucial importance that we visit those in prison, as Our Lord told us to do. We are called to remember and also to walk alongside them, like Christ did with the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

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“By walking with the disciples and accompanying them, he enabled them to come to a new space. Walking with the prisoner enables them to find that new space and that place of redemption.”

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The role of the family

Lord Farmer, a Conservative peer, also spoke, highlighting the role that families and personal relationships play in effective rehabilitation. Drawing on his experience of writing two major independent reviews on the prison system commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, he said:

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“My reviews started from the Ministry of Justice research finding that prisoners are 39% less likely to reoffend if they receive family visits. This is the most effective rehabilitation pathway in statistical terms – it makes twice the difference to reoffending as access to drug treatment, and four times the difference education and employment training deliver. Whereas the input for most rehabilitation pathways comes from the prison service, family visits depend on being able to maintain relationships.”

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He added:

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“The Christian Gospel is about relationships and it’s about family, we are the children of God our Father, and we are brothers and sisters.”

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You can download “Remember Me” here: cbcew.org.uk/remember-me‍