Pope Francis shakes hands with an inmate before he listens to his confession during a penitential liturgy at the Las Garzas de Pacora detention center for minors, in Panama, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Francis on Friday denounced how society puts up "invisible walls" to marginalize sinners and criminals as he brought World Youth Day to Panama's juvenile delinquents who can't participate in the Catholic Church's big festival of faith. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Francis took time during his Panama trip for World Youth Day to visit a detention center Friday morning, the first time the Holy Father heard confessions in a prison in what turned out to be an extremely emotional service.
Francis crossed what he called the "invisible wall" society puts up to marginalize criminals and sinners. The pontiff brought World Youth Day to Las Garzas de Pacora detention center, giving the inmates the same white T-shirts worn by youth at the Catholic Church's big youth festival and he heard the inmates' confessions inside confessionals the detainees constructed themselves.
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“There are no words to describe the freedom I feel in this moment," Luis Oscar Martinez, one of the inmates, told Francis at the beginning of the service. The 21-year-old, who has been locked up since 2016, said he lacked guidance from a father growing up and "caused very deep pain to a loved one and to myself." Martinez shared he hopes to please his mom and become an international chef, which drew a smile from the pope.
Pope Francis listens to the words of an inmate at the Las Garzas de Pacora detention center for minors before the start of a penitential Mass, in Panama, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Francis on Friday denounced how society puts up "invisible walls" to marginalize sinners and criminals as he brought World Youth Day to Panama's juvenile delinquents who can't participate in the Catholic Church's big festival of faith. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
"I liked that confession of yours," Francis responded. "We have a father who loves us."
Around 150 youth are locked up in the center for serious crimes, including murder.
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Francis told them during his homily that society should spend time creating opportunities for them to change instead of labeling them good or bad, righteous or a sinner.
“This attitude spoils everything because it erects an invisible wall that makes people think that, if we marginalize, separate and isolate others, all our problems will magically be solved,” Francis said, once again making reference to the walls that seek to divide people rather than unite them.
Pope Francis delivers his speech before a penitential liturgy at the Las Garzas de Pacora detention center, in Panama, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Francis on Friday denounced how society puts up "invisible walls" to marginalize sinners and criminals as he brought World Youth Day to Panama's juvenile delinquents who can't participate in the Catholic Church's big festival of faith. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Francis has made a tradition of visiting prisoners during his foreign visits and has long made prison ministry part of his vocation to minister to the most marginal in society. Just last year, Francis changed church teaching on the death penalty, saying it was inadmissible in all cases.
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The change was in keeping with his belief that prisoners can always change and deserve chances for rehabilitation so they can re-enter society after serving their terms.
Francis opened his first full day in Panama a day earlier with a message of hope formally welcoming tens of thousands of pilgrims to World Youth Day at a twilight pep rally at the capital's seaside park.
He urged them to be builders of bridges of encounter, not "builders of walls that sow fear and look to divide and box people in," a clear reference to the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
