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Every year, the Protestant prison chaplains active throughout Germany meet for an exchange lasting several days at a correctional facility in Germany – this time in Hünfeld.
Hünfeld – The Federal Conference of Protestant Prison Pastoral Care is setting up its tents in the Hünfeld Oblate Monastery until Friday, May 8th. Under the motto “In my prison, I am the director myself,” around 70 Protestant pastors are addressing the question of freedom in correctional facilities.
German prison chaplains at the annual meeting in Hünfeld
“New prisons are monitored by cameras in every corner,” said Giessen prison chaplain and co-organizer of the conference, Johannes Blum-Seebach, to the Evangelical Press Service. “But there are still free spaces that prisoners use. We want to explore these free spaces at the conference.” In prisons there is a tension between control and subversion – the prisoners sometimes try to circumvent surveillance.
The remaining freedoms include pastoral care. “We have the pound of pastoral secrecy: nothing is shared,” explained Blum-Seebach. The prison pastoral care offers art, music or conversations to give prisoners the opportunity to try out new things. The mostly weekly church service also offers freedom. In Giessen prison, for example, around 30 of the 130 prisoners take part – often accompanied by a choir.
“Many In prison, prisoners realize that something has gone wrong in their lives. Pastoral care offers them conversations to think about how this came about and how they can look forward. It is only here and as part of our pastoral care that many people realize what is really important to them in life: their family, partner or children,” says Blum-Seebach.
Lectures, a celebration evening and board elections are on the agenda
“The Catholic pastors, with whom we work on an equal basis in everyday life, have their own federal conference, but always send a representative to us,” reports Pastor Andreas Leipold, who also helped organize the conference as a pastor at the Hünfeld prison.
The highlight of the event will be the festive evening on Thursday, May 7th, which begins at 7:30 p.m. Among the guests is State Secretary Tanja Eichner, who will represent Justice Minister Christian Heinz (both CDU). “A total of around 70 Protestant pastors come together at the conference,” reports Pastor Leipold.
The lecture by Professor Dr. promises to be exciting. Hanno Sauer, who teaches at the university in Utrecht, Netherlands, and was a guest at the annual meeting on Tuesday. He gave a lecture on the topic of 'Morality – The Invention of Good and Evil,'” said Leipold.
The “local” speakers include Dr. Thorsten Waap, dean of the Fulda church district, and Dr. Gisela Matthias. The Gelnhäuser native is a Protestant theologian and trained clown. At the annual meeting in the St. Boniface Monastery, the prison chaplains want, among other things, to elect a new board.
