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ZAMBIA: Death row prisoners given hope of the Rosary
By John Newton
Aid to the Church in Need's Rosary booklet, which is being distributed to prisoners in Zambia
Maximum security prisoners in Zambia – including inmates on death row – are to receive booklets about the Rosary thanks to a joint initiative between Aid to the Church in Need and the charity Crown of Thorns.
Aid to the Church in Need is sending 1,600 copies of its Rosary Book to Zambian prisoners in Kamfinsa State Prison and Kabwe Maximum Security Prison. It comes in response to requests inmates sent to Crown of Thorns asking to receive more information about the Rosary.
Lisa de Quay, chief executive of Crown of Thorns, explained how the charity regularly receives many letters from behind prison bars – including those on death row.
She said contact with the prisoners was probably sparked by a visiting chaplain who distributed Crown of Thorns cards describing the Rosary prayers.
Mrs de Quay added: “Inmates are usually family breadwinners, worried about the poverty and hardship that their crime has left their families suffering and too far from home for their families to visit.
“Although kindly treated, most inmates spend years in prison with only the clothes that they were arrested in, and with no soap, and with no blanket or sheet to cover themselves in through the cold months of the year, and often rejected from their society through crime or disease.”
She went on to say that sending the prisoners rosary cards – and now the Aid to the Church in Need booklet – was making a difference to their lives.
Mrs de Quay said: “Their letters will surprise you, [they are] full of the great joy of contact, of being accepted, and of finding God.”
One prisoner on death row wrote: “For me it is the first time that I have received a parcel, even though I have been in prison for 14 years now.
“Please, please God richly bless you.”
Aid to the Church in Need’s UK Director, Neville Kyrke-Smith, said the charity was pleased to be helping prisoners in Africa.
He said: “Mary, the Mother of God, loves all her children. In the midst of suffering and despair we can all stand with Our Lady in prayer, seeing through the tears of this life to the hope of new life and the resurrection.
“Praying the Rosary can touch people very deeply and transform their lives.
“We are very happy to be part of this beautiful initiative which will change prisoners’ lives and bring them closer to God.”
One maximum security prisoner in Kabwe jail wrote: “I believe that your work is a lamp that one cannot hide under the table.
“It is a light of the world, a light that can be seen thousands of miles up and much farther on land. This light shines before people.
“How thrilling it is to be part of God’s work, shinning out in this dark and corrupt world.
“For the love and faith you have for God’s people, I pray that God should bless you all, and that he gives you knowledge that you can share with me.”
Crown of Thorns promotes the Rosary as a means of achieving peace and sends various items to Africa including liturgical vestments and statues, as well as rosaries and prayer cards.
Aid to the Church in Need is committed to helping the Church throughout Africa by supporting priests, Sisters and other projects where the Church is in pastoral need.