From the Revd Ian Gomersall
Sir, — Andrew Brown (Media, 12 September) and Paul Newman (Letters, 19 September) raise important points about the danger of narrowly focused prison chaplaincies. To give another example, in my own time as a prison chaplain I was aware of several prisons where holy communion was not available to prisoners. The issues raised will apply mutatis mutandis to other closed institutions.
The basic human right to worship, and access to the sacraments, is not taken away on imprisonment. However, those at liberty have more choice about where they can worship; and so, if they wish, they can avoid a church which tells them that their loved ones will be cast into a lake of fire if they do not have a personal faith in Jesus Christ.
Consequently, it must be a duty of prison governors and the prison service chaplaincy to ensure that a broad worship and Christian teaching programme is offered in our prisons. Bishops, and indeed the HM Prisons Inspectorate, could usefully monitor chaplaincies to ensure that prisoners’ rights to worship are not too restricted by over-zealous chaplains.
IAN GOMERSALL
St Chrysostom’s Rectory
38 Park Range
Manchester M14 5HQ
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