RCPM is a Catholic organization aimed at serving the marginalized and needy whose life of sin and crime have led to their imprisonment. The ministry is a service with a mystical dimension. It sees the inmates and volunteers as one in the Body of Christ. As both volunteers and inmates are One in the Body of Christ, volunteers strive to be Christ-like in the service rendered to the imprisoned. Our service is based on the values of Jesus Christ as handed to us by his Church, the Catholic Church.

Humility - We serve with humility when we relate with the people we minister to and work with.

Hope - We do not despair in the rehabilitation of inmates. We do not give up on them. Instead we bring them hope; that there is always a chance for them to redeem themselves both in this life and in eternity. Thus with hope, we are able to lead, encourage, teach and help them to change for the better.

Respect - We regard the dignity of the persons we minister to, keeping their confidence and treating them with the respect they deserve. 

Sincerity - We deal honestly with those we minister to, never taking advantage of them and being true to our charisma as ambassadors of Christ.

Accountability - We are responsible to ourselves, our brothers and sisters who are our fellow volunteers, those whom we serve, the Ministry as a whole and the Church. We are responsible for our actions and will stand by the truth

Obedience - We serve with obedience because we are doing a work which is expected of us, our vocation as Christians Our calling as followers of Christ identifies us with Him in the poor", I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me." Mt 25:35-36

Discipleship -  We are not volunteers who do what we want but we are disciples who do God’ will in our service for the incarcerated. We are available to be sent to whichever institution or correctional unit that needs our service.

RCPM brings the Good News to those in prison. The basis of this mission is underpinned by the theological virtues of faith, hope and love.

RCPM volunteers journey with inmates, ex-offenders and their families in a relationship of faith, hope and love. These virtues are related directly to God, and are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and meriting eternal life.  They are the pledge of the presence of His Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being.

How is each virtue necessary for RCPM’s work?

Faith: RCPM strives to impart and share our belief in what God has revealed to us through the Holy Church.

Hope: RCPM helps to nurture, in those we minister to, the expectation of and the desire to receive the riches and promises of Christ in this life and the next.

Love: RCPM sets the example of loving God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

RCPM endeavors to cultivate these theological virtues in inmates, ex-offenders and their families, as these virtues inform, animate and give life to all the moral virtues.

Thus from the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, RCPM’s Spiritual Goals are  borne.

Repentance :

Repentance requires a “conversion of the heart” (ref. CCC 1430). This is an interior conversion which requires a reorientation of the inmate’s life, a return to God, an end of sin, a turning away from sin and repugnance of sin, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of His grace (CCC 1431). 

Healing & Return to the Father

Conversion is first of all the work of the grace of God who makes the heart return to Him. God gives the strength to begin anew.  (CCC 1432).

Through our visits, we strive to achieve this conversion of heart and return to the Father and for the inmates to be fruitful members of the body of Christ.

Footnote: CCC – Catechism of the Catholic Church

Re-Integration

For inmates, prison visitations provide them support in their journey of conversion towards Christ. RCPM volunteers seek to impart the concept that one is valuable in a community that strives to know and love God intimately in order to be responsible members of society.

For ex-offenders, RCPM offers continued spiritual support in their journey of faith. RCPM seeks to provide them, in life after prison, with a continued sense of community and support. Integral to our mission, RCPM helps them in the material sense, in key intervention areas such as financial need, employment needs, relationship and in communication skills and parenting, through a formalized structure of information and referral.

Unlike a secular organization which focuses solely on material needs, RCPM brings salvation to the ex-offender and family by addressing the whole person - his spiritual, psychological and the material needs.

Inmates, ex-offenders and their families whom RCPM ministers to, come from a wide spectrum of society with differences in culture, age, spiritual maturity and socio-economic conditions. RCPM volunteers tailor the conduct of sessions to suit the needs and condition of those they are ministering to, and in this way, relate to them at a truly inter-personal level. We believe this approach facilitates deeper conversion.

Whoever teaches must become "all things to all men" (I Cor 9:22), to win everyone to Christ. . . Above all, teachers must not imagine that a single kind of soul has been entrusted to them, and that consequently it is lawful to teach and form equally all the faithful in true piety with one and the same method! Let them realize that some are in Christ as newborn babes, others as adolescents, and still others as adults in full command of their powers.... Those who are called to the ministry of preaching must suit their words to the maturity and understanding of their hearers.

Minimize the Rate of Recidivism

As an organization that is concerned for the spiritual well being of the inmate and ex-offender, RCPM seeks to affect true repentance and conversion in the hearts of those they minister to. RCPM nurtures their spiritual journey in the firm belief that it is solely through the power of Christ that anyone’s heart is transformed for the better. It is in this hope that RCPM envisions that those we journey with will turn away from a life of crime permanently, and their recidivism rate will be minimized.