Desperately alone in his dark world, 20-year-old Jesus Orbina began to shake and cry uncontrollably when a message delivered to prisoners throughout the world Sunday came to him inside the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail.
You have not been forgotten, the suicidal Orbina was told. People out there love you.
With similar spiritual messages of healing and forgiveness, Roman Catholic bishops across the continents celebrated Sunday Mass for the incarcerated as part of "Jubilee in the Prisons of the World."
Pope John Paul II designated July 9 as a Jubilee day to draw attention to the world's prisoners and called for a worldwide reduction of jail sentences as a sign of goodwill during the millennial Holy Year.
In Southern California, Archbishop of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony and about 20 other bishops held services in more than 50 prisons, jails, juvenile halls and INS detention centers in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Orange.
"Please, open your hearts so that Christ may enter," Mahony urged about 230 inmates during a morning Mass inside the chapel of Men's Central Jail. "Some people think: 'Because I'm a sinner and maybe committed some crimes, the Lord cannot love me.' Well, that's not true."
The theme echoed throughout the services was one of forgiveness and reconciliation by crime victims, family members of prisoners, and inmates themselves.
At Central Juvenile Hall, more than 400 young men and women--from ages 8 to 18--gathered in the courtyard for an outdoor service celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala.
In one of the more moving testimonies, a blond, freckle-faced 18-year-old named Liz recounted how being sexually abused by her stepfather when she was 9 had led her to commit crimes.
Liz said the day everyone found out about the sexual abuse, her stepfather killed himself.
"Today . . . I realize that my stepfather was not a monster. He was a man. A sick man, but a man nonetheless, and I have forgiven him," she said through tears. "The hate that was inside me led me to do many things I regret today. If only I had found a way to forgive him earlier, I could have gone on with my life."
Vestments and Uniforms
Inside Men's Central Jail, Mahony was joined by Bishop Tod Brown of the Diocese of Orange and Bishop George Niederauer of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Niederauer was in Los Angeles to attend the national Catholic multicultural convention, Encuentro 2000, which ended Sunday. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca also attended the Mass at Men's Central Jail.
