The CFC-FFL Ministry for Restorative Justice, better known as the Prison Ministry, is part CFC-FFL's overall work for evangelization and renewal focusing primarily on prison and other detention centers. It is a victim-offender-community-based program geared toward healing in order to liberate all afflicted parties from the effects of crime.

What is the vision of CFC-FFL's Restorative Justice Ministry?

The CFC-FFL Ministry for Restorative Justice envisions a renewal of relationships once broken by crime toward the restoration of all injured parties—the victim, the offender, and the community.

What is the philosophy of CFC-FFL's Restorative Justice Ministry?

The CFC-FFL Ministry for Restorative Justice believes in the importance of allowing victims, their offenders, and the members of the affected community to meet to address the relational dimension of crime and justice and work together toward building a Christian community.

What is the mission statement of the CFC-FFL Ministry for Restorative Justice?

The CFC-FFL Ministry for Restorative Justice shall work to:

• Create opportunities for willing victims and offenders to meet, discuss, and help build a Christian Community.
• Set up as many CFC-FFL community groups inside prison through the Christian Life Seminar (CLS) aided with Bible Faith Sharing for offenders who shall later take the initiative to repair the harm they have caused their victims and communities.
• Reconcile victims and offenders to become productive members of their community particularly in preventing crimes within their area.
• Support victims of transgressions to heal the wounds of crime.

What is the present pastoral involvement of the CFC-FFL Restorative Justice Ministry?

Originally, CFC worked with inmates in many jails and detention facilities throughout the Philippines. Today the work is focused on the Maximum Security Compound of the National Bilibid Prison (Max-NBP). Recently, it has also included the Medium Security Compound, with a combined number of approximately 1,000 active members. This is where most prisoners are incarcerated for a life term or those who have been condemned to death. The number would have been more were it not for the transfer of inmates to other jails and detention facilities, parole, release through pardon, and/or death.

What are the Core Values of CFC-FFL's Ministry for Restorative Justice?

The CFC-FFL Ministry for Restorative Justice worked side by side with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines in the abolition of the death penalty because it is Pro-Life, Pro-Poor, and Pro-Family. Under the guidance of the Catholic Church, it shall continue to do battle against the prevalent apathy of society toward prisoners and the notion that inmates are undeserving of concern and protection. Its programs shall promote restorative justice principles and practices to include:

• Prison reforms
• Immersion program
• Foster-inmate program

What are the programs of CFC-FFL's Ministry for Restorative Justice?

Christian Life Seminar (CLS) - The entry formation program into the CFC-FFL Community encompassing the basic truths about Christianity.

Weekly General Assemblies and Teachings - Personal growth gatherings for fellowship and formation of the larger community.

Weekly Household - The basic small group cell support structure for members of the CFC-FFL community.

Ugnayan sa Pamilya - A rehabilitation and development program founded on family reconciliation and support.

Biyaya - Subsistence support given to the inmate members because of the difficult living conditions inside, marked by congestion and inadequate daily food allowances (40 pesos per person per day), beds, toilets, basic services, etc. This concretely expresses the Ministry’s love for God through the care for the brother-inmates, making pastoral intervention toward restoring their dignity as God’s children possible.

Para-Legal Assistance - Assistance given to the inmate members because of the slow judicial process that takes months and years. The injustice is even greater when the inmate is found not guilty as charged.

 

Updated 01-04-2010