Bishop Moth tells Parliamentarians: ‘The criminal justice system poses threats to human dignity’

Bishop Moth at the launch of Remember Me: A Catholic Approach to Criminal Justice | CBCEW

Speaking at the Parliamentary launch of a new Bishops’ Conference Social Justice Department document, Bishop Moth emphasized that an effective criminal justice system must honour the innate dignity of every human being, and further the common good.

At the launch for Remember Me: A Catholic Approach to Criminal Justice, attended by Parliamentarians, heads of charities, and experts from a range of academic, policy and legal backgrounds, Bishop Moth, Liaison Bishop for Prisons, said:

“This is a good moment to launch this document. We would like to speak on these matters for two particular reasons: to highlight the threat to human dignity in the criminal justice system, and emphasize the innate dignity of every human person as someone created by God.

“That cannot be taken away. We see threats to that dignity in the criminal justice system as it is. We also want to promote the common good in our courts, our prisons, and in civil society: charities, civil groups, parishes and families.”

He added:

“For a long time, the Catholic Church in this country has promoted the common good…Our Catholic vision means that justice needs to be restorative.

“It includes care for victims, appropriate punishment for offenders, and then rehabilitation to reform prisoners and give them the chance at redemption. Punishment might be a vote winner but it does not promote the common good. We need just punishment.”

Faith and civil society

Bishop Moth also explained the important role faith, parishes and civil society plays in the redemption journey of prisoners:

“As a community of faith, it is of crucial importance that we visit those in prison, as Our Lord told us to do. We are called to remember and also to walk alongside them, like Christ did with the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

“By walking with the disciples and accompanying them, he enabled them to come to a new space. Walking with the prisoner enables them to find that new space and that place of redemption.”

The role of the family

Lord Farmer, a Conservative peer, also spoke, highlighting the role that families and personal relationships play in effective rehabilitation.

Drawing on his experience of writing two major independent reviews on the prison system commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, he said:

“My reviews started from the Ministry of Justice research finding that prisoners are 39% less likely to reoffend if they receive family visits.

“This is the most effective rehabilitation pathway in statistical terms – it makes twice the difference to reoffending as access to drug treatment, and four times the difference education and employment training deliver.

“Whereas the input for most rehabilitation pathways comes from the prison service, family visits depend on being able to maintain relationships.”

He added:

“The Christian Gospel is about relationships and it’s about family, we are the children of God our Father and we are brothers and sisters.”

Read and download

The document can be found here: cbcew.org.uk/remember-me

Or download:

Remember Me – 2024

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