MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO THE PARISH OF THE “DUE PALAZZI” DETENTION CENTRE IN PADUA 

Good Friday, 10 April 2020

Dear friends of the Due Palazzi parish in Padua,

I have read the meditations for the Via Crucis that you donated. I dwelt amid your words and I felt welcomed, at home. Thank you for sharing part of your history with me. God tells of himself and speaks to us within a story; he invites us to listen attentively and mercifully. I want to thank you also because you have scattered your names not into a sea of anonymity, but rather into that of the many people linked to the world of penitentiaries. Thus in the Via Crucis, you will lend your story to all those who share your same situation throughout the world. It is comforting to read a story in which there are also other stories, not only of detainees, but of all those who are passionate about the world of prisons. Together it is possible. Together. I embrace you. Even though I am sure that Don Marco always reminds you, I ask you: pray for me. I carry you always in my heart. Thank you.