At Prison Ministry of Upstate New York (PMUNY) we envision a culture that embraces all of God’s Children – especially our incarcerated brothers and sisters. PMUNY recognizes the inequities and injustices for our black and brown brothers and sisters in our country’s past and present practices. These have in part led to prison populations that are an overwhelming black/brown majority. Given the recent events including the murder of George Floyd, we are more determined than ever to support our incarcerated black/brown brothers and sisters. Through our individual and collective work inside local jails and prisons, we build community, we listen, we show care and concern modeling the love of Jesus Christ. We share hope for a better future that includes justice for all. We strive to make whole where there are divisions and to share Jesus’ message of love as we journey together to become more fully human and more Christ-like.
As volunteers, we have been changed through our prison ministry experiences. We are compelled to look inward to uncover and confront our own biases, to discover what more we can do to extend compassion, grow in empathy, and bring our committed and renewed selves to our work with the incarcerated. We commit to do our part to embrace and encourage anti-racism policies and practices.
Lord, Jesus Christ
who reached across the ethnic boundaries
between Samaritan, Roman and Jew
who offered fresh sight to the blind and freedom to captives,
help us to break down the barriers in our community,
enable us to see the reality of racism and bigotry,
and free us to challenge and uproot it
from ourselves, our society and our world.
– Fr. John Bucki, SJ
