In 2002, the Catholic bishops of the South issued the first of eight pastoral statements focusing on the criminal justice system, especially the rise of for-profit prisons in the rural South. This pastoral statement was issued by the Catholic Committee of the South, a network of dioceses, religious orders and community organziations based in Martin, Ky., and signed by all but three of the 48 bishops of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia signed the document in 2002.

Since that time, seven more statements have been issued dealing with issues such as restorative justice, juvenile justice and prison conditions. Glenmary Father Les Schmidt serves as adviser and liasion to the Catholic Committee of the South and faciliated the eight-part pastoral on criminal justice which affirms the principles of human dignity and community as did the November 2000 pastoral letter from the U.S. Catholic bishops, Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration. In that letter, the bishops given a Catholic perspective on crime and criminal justice. They address the state of criminal justice in the United States today and offer directions for reform based on Church teaching. “How can we protect and rebuild communities, confront crime without vengeance, and defend life without taking life?” it asks. It sees crime not simply as a violation of law, but a threat to community. It rejects punishment for its own sake, emphasizing rather its constructive and redemptive purpose.

The bishops of the South hope the eight-part pastoral statements will have the same effect that the U.S. Bishops talked about in Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration. “We hope these reflections will encourage those who are already working for reform, both inside and outside the system. We also hope many others will join with them in efforts to prevent crime, reach out to victims, offer ministry and rehabilitation in our prisons, help to re-integrate ex-offenders, and advocate for new approaches.”

Read the eight pastoral statements:

Challenges for the Criminal Justice Process in the South

Wardens from Wall Street: Prison Privatization

"Suffer the Little Children..." Juvenile Justice in the South 

"I have come to heal..." Restorative Justice  

“For I was in prison and you visited me.” Prison Conditions

Post Release from Prison

Women in Prison

Call for Action