Pope Francis calls for prisoners to be reintegrated into society

2014-06-21 158

A warm welcome as Pope Francis heads into prison Saturday in southern Italy.

Inside, prison guards offer him gifts.

He offers sympathy as he addresses inmates

(SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE FRANCIS SAYING:

"In this way I want to express to you my personal closeness, and that of the Church, to all the men and all the women who are in prison in every part of the world."

He calls for rehabilitation and reintegration.

(SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE FRANCIS SAYING:

"It is often stressed the theme of respect for fundamental human rights and the need to match the conditions of serving the sentence. This aspect of prison policy is certainly essential in this regard and attention must always remain high. But this perspective is not enough, unless it is accompanied and complemented by a concrete commitment of the institutions with a view to effective integration into society."

The pontiff also personally met with some inmates, including the jailed father o

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