Gov. Calvo visits prisoners
For immediate release
January 4, 2016
Please call Amanda Blas at 475-9379 or 687-6219 for more information
(Hagatna, Guam) The Governor of Guam visited the prison today with a message: second chances are real if we work for them, and love conquers judgment.
“We’re all sinners,” Governor Eddie Calvo said. “As Pope Francis says, we need to be less tolerant of the sin, but more merciful to the sinner.”
Pope Francis’s Christmas homily and a local homily delivered by Fr. Francis Hezel on December 8 inspired the Governor to check on the living and working conditions at the prison. “I wanted to talk to the inmates there. They are people, too.”
In a strong statement during his Christmas homily, Pope Francis said, “In a world which all too often is merciless to the sinner and lenient to the sin, we need to cultivate a strong sense of justice, to discern, and to do God’s will.”
This is the first time a Guam governor has visited inmates of the Department of Corrections. The governor spent time listening to and talking with an inmate and a detainee. Both are spending time within the correctional facility for crimes related to drugs.
Federal law prohibits the release of the identities of those housed at the prison, so this news release will only mention general parts about their lives. Both the inmate and the detainee are mothers, who lost their families, their homes, and their freedom as a consequence of their crimes.
“I wanted them to know that if they do their time and serve the ends of justice, then we’ll do what it takes to prepare them for a shot at life when they get out,” the Governor said. Governor Calvo, a staunch believer that most everyone should be given a second chance, said that it’s easy to judge people, but far more noble to walk in their shoes or to help them to make better choices.
“Negativity never did anyone any good,” the Governor said. “That’s exactly how many of the people here at the prison ended up here. Good things can come from a bad situation. We just have to foster that kind of goodness.”
– end of release –
