Criminal Justice Ministry Services is a ministry of the Office of the Vicar for Clergy which provides for the pastoral care of victims/survivors of crime and their families, former inmates, and the incarcerated and their families.

Mission & Vision

The mission of Criminal Justice Ministry Services is modeled after that of Jesus, who treated each person with dignity and respect, and who valued life as a sacred gift.

In prisons, jails, and juvenile institutions, we recognize the broken body of Jesus and are committed to accompany the incarcerated on their journey toward healing and wholeness. In the larger community we seek opportunities to help individuals and communities reflect on the Gospel imperative to resist all that diminishes personal dignity and crushes the human spirit.

Our goals are three-fold:

·      To provide quality pastoral care and a healing presence to incarcerated men, women and children;

·      To promote Gospel values through education, public witness and the development of a restorative response to issues of crime and violence;

·      To invite the Christian community to participate in the healing mission of Jesus by volunteering their time, talent and treasure. This work includes direct ministry to the incarcerated and their families, transitional support for inmates, assisting the Church’s ministry to victims of crime, and working for systemic change in the criminal justice system.

Moving Toward a Restorative Model of Criminal Justice 

Years of harsh and increasingly retributive responses to crime, including a drastic increase nationwide in the use of the death penalty, have resulted in the prison population nationwide more than doubling but have not helped people feel safe. The many issues facing Criminal Justice Ministry, including capital punishment, overcrowding, lack of effective programs both within prisons and during the transition process, flow from this reality.

Our hope is to develop a restorative model of ministry that will help to identify and respond to the deeper needs underlying the fears in our community. While continuing our ministry to the many men, women and children incarcerated throughout our Archdiocese (and developing pastoral programs in currently unserved areas and institutions), we hope to also develop meaningful and effective transition programs to assist in their eventual reintegration into our communities.

Recognizing that the Church has poorly served those who have been victimized by crime, we will continue our attempts to develop an ongoing ministerial outreach to assist them in their grieving and healing process. To date we have offered an annual Memorial Mass for Victims of Crime and held several listening sessions with people victimized by crime. We hope to offer this Memorial service in various areas throughout the Archdiocese during the coming year, offering those who come a chance to share their needs and hopes for support from the Church. Our long-term goal in this area is to develop a training program for parish staffs; retreats and support groups for people victimized by crime; and develop a Chaplaincy position(s) focused on responding to the needs of victims.

Finally, knowing that our community must develop new answers to the many questions arising from crime, we hope to foster a dialogue within our Church community rooted in our vision as a people of faith. In each of our faith communities there are people affected by crime - as victims, offenders, family members or friends. We share in the celebration of the Word and the Eucharist, but seldom enter into meaningful conversation on these other important realities in our lives. We hope to develop programs that will help our faith communities enter into an honest and compassionate discussion about the needs of all affected by crime, as well as on potentially divisive issues such as the death penalty and alternatives to incarceration. In all of this we hope to help the Catholic community of Western Washington fashion a response to crime deeply rooted in our identity as followers of Jesus.

Contact information:

Tom Wagner, Assistant Director for Pastoral Care Services
206-382-1477
tom.wagner@seattlearch.org