Inside, I meet the Holy
It is a privilege to visit the ten Jesuit universities participating in JPEN and their partner correctional facilities. The campus conversations are instructive and energizing, but the time “inside” is something more. It is sacred. In every facility, I meet women and men whom I consider holy.
I am not naïve about why people are incarcerated. As an attorney and as a priest, I have spent many hours in jails and prisons. But now I enter as an educator who believes that learning is one of the ways we continue the work of creation. Ignatius of Loyola tells us that, moved by God’s gentle love, we are invited to be collaborators in bringing forth the kingdom.
JPEN is one expression of that collaboration. Across fourteen state facilities, more than 300 incarcerated students and over 50 Department of Corrections staff are enrolled in Jesuit college courses. Five additional Jesuit institutions are preparing to launch programs of their own. Through our partnership with Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns, the Consortium of Catholic Colleges in the Prisons now includes twenty‑one Catholic institutions — nearly ten percent of all Catholic colleges in the country — sharing practices, research, and hope.
But the heart of this work is not the numbers. It is the same sentence I hear in every classroom: “I feel human again.” That is Ignatius’ charge — “to help souls.” And in helping souls, I am helped. Teaching inside is mutually transformative; it draws us closer to the end for which God created us.
The United States holds five percent of the world’s population and twenty‑five percent of its incarcerated. Ninety‑seven percent of those inside will one day return home. What we do now — how we honor their humanity, how we accompany their learning — shapes not only their future but ours.
In the end, JPEN is more than just an educational effort or venture. It’s an invitation to see one another as sisters and brothers. It’s an experience of our shared humanity.
Would you like to donate to JPEN?
Visit the Jesuits of Central & Southern Province support page to learn more about how you can contribute.
To designate your gift to the Jesuit Prison Education Network, scroll down the webpage to "Donation information" to select a gift amount. Then scroll down to the "Designation" box, click on it, and select JPEN from the drop-down menu.