Portuguese prisoners build confessionals ahead of Pope's visit
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[April 17, 2023]
By Catarina Demony and Miguel Pereira
PORTO (Reuters) - Fraudster Tiago Espanhol has been behind bars for a
little over two years. He has 2-1/2 more years before release but he
says building confessionals for Pope Francis' visit to Portugal this
summer is speeding up time.
"We pass our time and it's good for us," the 38-year-old said as he gave
the final touches to a chair at the prison's carpentry workshop.
"Working is better for us - at least to see if we can go home as soon as
possible."
Lisbon will host the World Youth Day from Aug. 1-6, an international
festival bringing together the pope and hundreds of thousands of young
Catholics from across the globe.
As part of the event, 150 confessionals built by inmates at three
Portuguese prisons are set to be installed at the "Park of Forgiveness",
a space for the faithful to confess their sins.
Espanhol, an evangelical Christian who is at Porto's Prison
Establishment (EP) in northern Portugal, hopes his children can visit
the park to see his work.
Organisers said involving the prisoners could help them reintegrate into
society when they are released from jail.
Prisoners such as Espanhol also hope building the confessionals can
reduce their jail time.
Manuel Dias, who has been in jail for two months awaiting his final
sentencing, said it was easier to spend the day working on the wooden
confessionals than stuck in his cell.
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Prisoners Tiago Espanhol (L) and Manuel
Dias (R) work on benches in the carpentry workshop of Custoias
Prison in Porto, Portugal, April 14, 2023. All the confessionals to
be installed on the "Park of Forgiveness", as part of next August
World Youth Day celebration, will be built by prisoners.
REUTERS/Pedro Nunes
"Inside (prison), you stand still," said the 55-year-old. "Time
doesn't go by fast."
Paulo Teixeira, coordinator of the prison's carpentry workshop, said
one of the benefits of working on the confessionals was the salary
of 5 euros ($5.50) per day, above the average daily wage inmates
receive doing other jobs.
Jose Julio, director of Porto's EP, said that most of the work done
by inmates was related to the jail's maintenance, such as cleaning
or meal preparation.
According to the European Prison Observatory, employment and
vocational training opportunities for inmates are insufficient in
Portugal, where it notes a "serious overcrowding problem" in the
prisons.
Investing in modernising workshops and establishing further
agreements with private companies willing to recruit inmates could
be part of the solution for them to gain extra skills for life after
prison and make more cash, said Julio, standing next to one of the
built confessionals.
The prison director said it was "important for people to know that
positive things are also done inside prisons".
($1 = 0.9091 euros)
(Reporting by Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira and Pedro Nunes;
Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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