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News and

VieWS

Spring 1989

CSC Chaplaincy

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NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS

Task Force on the Mission Document

The Director of Chaplaincy was a very active member of this task force. His contribution has been recognized throughout the Service as indicated by the numerous requests he has received to present and explain the draft Mission Statement to various groups. He addressed the Conference of Administrators held in Banff in October on the importance of having a clear vision in corrections, a vision which is not without a spiritual component, if corrections is to steer a clear course. Since then he has been active in presenting the mission draft to the Regional Chaplains, to the staff of the Offender Programs Branch at NHQ, to the staff of Offender Management at NHQ, to Unit managers in the Atlantic Region, to chaplains in the Ontario region, to a joint meeting of chaplains of the Prairies and the Pacific regions at Banff, and to chaplains of the Atlantic region. He facilitated the presence of Commissioner Ingstrup at the meeting of the Interfaith Committe on Chaplaincy where the same subject was presented. The chaplains of the Québec region also discussed the Statement at their December meeting using a format suggested by the Director for those who wished to probe more deeply into the statement.

Orientation Phase II

The residential orientation for new chaplains from across the country was held in Montreal at the Quebec region Staff College from 23-27 January 1989. 13 new Chaplains from all five regions attended. The event was jointly led by the Rev. Norm Barton, A. Regional Chaplain Ontario region and the Assoc. Director, Rev. Chris Carr. Members of the Interfaith Committee participated extensively in the week: worship each morning was provided by a member of the IFC from the Montreal area; Abbé Jean Patry spoke on the spiritual basis for prison ministry; and Canon Tom James spoke on the chaplains' handbook, confidentiality, and the IFC. Other presentations were made by the Director of Chaplaincy; M. Luc Gariepy on Case Management Strategies including Integrated Sentence Management and the relationship between chaplaincy and the CMO's; and the Rev. Phil Joudrey of the Royal Victoria Hospital Chaplaincy on pastoral approaches to persons of a different religious tradition than one's own. Other subjects treated included teamwork in chaplaincy and differences in chaplaincy ministry corresponding to differences in security level. Several chaplains from the Quebec region dropped in at different times during the week, notably at a supper in town. Abbé Ubald Deland of Montée St.-François hosted the group for a wine and cheese at his house.

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Activities of the Director

Dr. Allard spoke at the opening of the Bath chapel, helped lead the weekend on stress for staff of the Atlantic region , assisted by his wife Judy, attended the Interfaith Committee meeting in Kingston 2-3 February 1989, chaired a panel discussion at the CSC Conference on Family Violence held in Ottawa in January, Addressed the Mennonites in Montreal in February and in PEI in March.

Activities of the Associate Director

Rev. Carr attended the annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Continuing Education for Ministry in January, and the winter meeting the American Correctional Chaplains' Association also in January.

Conference on Peacemaking. and Conflict Resolution

One chaplain from each region participated in a panel on the "Prison Chaplain and Conflict Resolution". Rev. Arne Jensen of Kent spoke of his work in bringing together imprisoned parents and the children they abused, Rev. Franklin Andrews of Stony Mountain spoke of some examples of bringing together representatives of two cultural traditions white and native, Rev. Lloyd Withers of Frontenac spoke of peacemaking that was needed when a prisoner was released, abbé Jacques Bousquet of Cowansville gave some examples of the conflict resolution that à prison chaplain is involved with on a daily basis, and Sr. Teresa Currie of Springhill spoke of the resolution necessary between spiritual and psychological approaches to counselling.

Interfaith Committe on Chaplaincy

Commissioner Ole Ingstrup addressed the Committe at its meeting on 2 February, 1989. He stressed the importance of the draft of a mission statement for the correctional service and how he thought the representatives of Canada's faith communities could be in support of it and find support for their work in it. In the afternoon of the same day the members visited institutions of the Kingston region as guests of local chaplains. This was to sensitize them to some of the work of chaplains, which is structured according to advice given to CSC by the Committee. The executive will meet in Nova Scotia in March and at the saine

time touch base with Atlantic chaplains meeting together under

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the leadership of Rev. Sally Boyles, herself a member of IFC. The Annual General Meeting will be held in April in Aylmer. Mr. Stuart Brown is the new representative of the Canadian Council of Churches on the IFC. He is the General Secretary of the Council, a specialist in Islam, and has worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva as well as in development research in Africa. The Committee is presently working to finalize the guidelines for membership, and in association with chaplaincy management to plan for the National Chaplains' Conference to be held in June.

ATLANTIC REGION

Personnel

Rev. Francis Cudjoe from Ghana has been appointed to part-time chaplaincy at Westmorland. He is working for now alongside Fr. Yvon Arsenault, and with the Protestant Chaplain Rev. Bernie Archer. Fr. Cudjoe is studying in Moncton.

Maj. Herb Goodrich, who works closely with the chaplains of the region, has been posted to head up the correctional program for the Salvation Army in Moncton. He was originally in Moncton.

Mark Hurst has left the position of Community Chaplain in Saint John to pursue further studies in the United States. As of 1989- 01-01 he has been succeeded by Wayne Dryer. Wayne is married, comes from a clergy home, and was previously chairman of the board of the Community Chaplaincy. He is a member of the United Baptist community, and has worked for 2 1/2 years as an inner city pastor in Saint John.

Personal

Rev. Bernie Archer does not have slides of a trip to Yugoslavia! The note in the last issue of News and Views was in error, and the editor apologizes! For those interested they might try contacting Rev. Bernie MacDonald of Collins Bay Institution who did go.

Professional Development

Sr. Teresa Currie of Springhill Institution will be offering a unit of CPE at the Institution from April to June.

Rev. Gary Porter of Atlantic Institution did his Phase III of orientation on counselling by following a course at Atlantic School of Theology.

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Sr. Agnes Leger of Springhill has attended a course on Jungian spirituality, and the role of dreams.

Rev. Sally Boyles of the Interfaith Committee led the chaplains regional workshop in March. Her subject was the use of the Myers-Briggs temperament analysis in ministry. Sally is a parish priest in Calgary.

The following chaplains attended the week for Phase II in the orientation process held in Montreal: Mr. Phil Ferris of Dorchester, and the Rev. Bernie Archer of Westmorland.

Special Activities

The weekend for staff was held January 20-22 and again chaplaincy participated extensively in the planning and leadership. The principal speaker was John Shearer of Carelton University in Ottawa. The Director of Chaplaincy preached at the closing service. 167 adults and 121 children attended, including representation from the Employee Assistance Program in the Ontario Region.

Plans are under way to repeat the Easter fast at institutions in the region. Last year upwards of $10,000 was raised to support various causes in the third world.

QUEBEC REGION

Personnel

Père Michel Beauchamp, who has been acting at Donnacona on an interim basis for almost a year, is confirmed in his position as Catholic chaplain. Congratulations!

Père Edouard Otis, the acting part-time colleague of Fr. Beauchamp for several months, has been appointed full time Catholic chaplain at Etablissement Archambault beginning 1 March 1989. Edouard has extensive experience in adult catechesis and in ministry to families, so he brings a new and important background to chaplaincy ministry. Welcome!

P. Jean Paul Dumas has been appointed part-time Catholic chaplain at Donnacona to replace Fr. Otis.

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Fr. Normand Voisine resigned as chaplain at Laval with the official closing of this institution on 31 December 198$. Normand had been a chaplain for 12 years. He is continuing to express his commitment for those on the margins of society by working with the half way house Entrée Libre and developing contacts with released prisoners.

Fr. Maurice Desjardins of Centre régional de réception has accepted to go to the Pacific Region for a few months to help out until a regular Catholic chaplain can be found for some institutions out there.

The Rev. Glen Coates of Drummond has resigned for reasons of health. We wish him well and thank him for his ministry.

Personal

The mother of Réal Joly, Catholic chaplain at Ste.-Anne des Plaines, died recently. Our sympathies are extended to Réal and other members of the family, as well as assurance of our prayers that they may know the consolation of His love.

Training

The chaplains of the region met for a week of training 5-8 December 1988. The program for the week included a presentation on pastoral approaches to members of new religious groups, a discussion on a possible marriage policy to guide the chaplains of the region in their ministry with prisoners, a discussion of the draft mission statement for CSC, and spiritual input in the form of a day's retreat for both anglophone and francophone chaplains.

Father Jean Claude Pelletier of LaMacaza attended a course on the Old Testament sponsored by the Diocese of Mont Laurier and given by a professor from St. Paul's University in Ottawa.

Edouard Otis of Donnacona attended the National Action Conference on Drug Abuse held in December.

Abbé Ubald Deland of Montée St. François attended the CAPE convention in Toronto in January.

Gabriel Savignac, Regional Chaplain, and abbé Pierre Gonneville of Leclerc attended an International Conference on Delinquancy in December to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of Collége Mont St. -Antoine. The keynote speaker was Aline Lizotte.

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The following chaplains attended the week-long Phase II of the Orientation process in Montreal: abbé Deland of MSF, Rev. Greg Frazer of Cowansville, and abbé Réal Joly of Ste.-Anne des Plaines.

News of Some Chaplaincies

At Port Cartier the choir from the local church sends 15-20 members into the penitentiary each Sunday for mass. Once a month the whole choir, about 50 members , holds their practise in the institution with the inmates. The local parish is doing ail

it can to identify the ministry in the institution with its own overall sense of mission to the community.

Also at Port Cartier planning is well advanced for the establishment of hospitality home for the visiting families of prisoners. The plan includes the leadership of the Sisters "Les Relgieuses Notre Dame de Charité du Bon Pasteur". A trip for family members is already planned even before the official opening of a home. Regional staff, including the regional chaplain, have been working hard to help this project get off the ground.

Mgr. Charles Valois, Bishop of St-Jérôme, visited the three institutions in Ste-Anne des Plaines at Christmas.

The chaplaincy at Leclerc Institution has developed a novel project to minister to those in need entitled the "Marmite". The French word stands for a basket in which food for the needy is placed. In this case the needy are prisoners in a prison in Ruanda who depend on outsiders to give them their food.

Also at Leclerc the Rev. Tom Kurdyla has been instrumental in facilitating the establishment of a Muslim prayer group.

CELEBRATION OF THANKS AT LECLERC Last February 20, 1989 the residents of Leclerc Institution celebrated the 5th anniversary of the group "Rencontre-Fraternité" ("Fellowship Meeting"). Sr. Madeleine Bellemare had formed this group near the beginning of. 1984. The volunteers have stuck with their commitment to share the Word since then. They have been constant in their regular attendance and in the high quality of relationships they establish with the residents in their twice-monthly meetings. Thérèse and Marcel Thibodeau are the animators and leaders of the group; Madeleine, Gérard, Lorraine, Gaétan and Jacqueline were part of the original group and continue today. Gilberte, Hélène, Bernari (who died in 1988), Jeanne, and Claude have joined in the meanwhile. The thirty or so residents who participated outdid themselves to make the evening a success. A reading and discussion of Matthew

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25.34ff began the evening" "Come you blessed of my Father ... I was in prison and you visited me." A reception followed featuring a lovely anniversary cake. A personalised locket in ceramic was given to each volunteer. After sharing in games, songs and joy the "Our Father" was sung. Bravo to the residents for their sense of responsibility, their good spirit, and their generosity. A tip of the hat to our volunteers for their brotherly love and their faithfulness.

ONTARIO REGION

Personnel

The Rev. David Hale, presently part-time R.C. chaplain at Frontenac and the Regional Treatment Centre, has been appointed full-time chaplain at Kingston Penitentiary beginning 1 April 1989.

The Rev. Joe Ainsley, R.C. Chaplain at Pittsburgh, resigned in November, 1988. Joe had been chaplain at Pittsburgh for 5 years, and worked in a similar capacity at Millhaven before that. We thank him for his many years of ministry to the imprisoned and wish him well in the next stages of his ministry.

The Rev. Al Meloche, previously chaplain at Kingston Penitentiary and for the past year interim co-ordinator of the Employee Assistance Program for the Ontario Region, has been appointed to this position permanently. Congratulations.

The Rev. Roger deBilly has accepted an appointment as part-time chaplain at Pittsburgh effective 1 May 1989. Roger has been chaplain at Kingston Penitentiary for the past year.

The Rev. John Hunt, chaplain at Joyceville, has resigned to return to parish work with his order (Oblates) in Ottawa effective 31 March 1989. Thanks for a cheerful contribution to the work of chaplaincy.

The position of regional chaplain, presently a combined position including part-time duties at Pittsburgh, will become a full-time position as of 1 April 1989.

Personal

Rev. Roger deBilly will undergo surgery for cataracts in Montreal in early April. We assure him of our intercession for a successful outcome to this surgery.

Cantor Jules Sulzbach and his family have invited the A.Regional Chaplain and his family to share a seder supper during the occasion of the Jewish Passover.

•••• 8

Professional Development of Chaplains

Rev. John Hudson, of Millhaven, and Ms. Muriel Bishop of Project Reconciliation, will present a workshop "Alternatives to Violence Project" for inmates at Warkworth Institution 10-12 March 1989. John and Muriel have recently been qualified as official trainers in this program and this will be there first opportunity to act in this capacity. The three days are intensive: two 12-hour days and one 8-hour day.

Rev. David Hale (Frontenac) and Sr. Marylin Gillespie (Joyceville) have both been concentrating on the use of the Ennegram as a method for using spiritual direction in prison ministry within the context of Phase III of the Orientation process. David has been particularly considering its application to persons concerned with substance abuse, Marilyn in the general area of inmate counselling. They will make a presentation of this work to the meeting of the chaplains of the region in April.

Regional meetings of chaplains have featured a presentation by the Director of Chaplaincy on the proposed Mission Statement, a combined meeting with the Interfaith Committee with the Commissioner, a presentation by the Associate Director of Chaplaincy on professional development.

Several chaplains of the region attended the Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution in Montreal 28 February till 5 March 1989: John Downs of PFW, John Hudson of Millhaven, Lloyd Withers of Frontenac, Muriel Bishop and Sylvia Wiseman of Project Reconciliation, and the Regional Chaplain.

The Volunteer training program run in association with the Kingston Institute for Pastoral Care is in full operation with 28 participants registered. It is program of 16 weeks, each session lasting 2 1/2 hours.

PRAIRIE REGION

Personnel

Fr. Leo Floyd, part-time R.C. Chaplain at Edmonton Institution, who has been filling in on an interim basis recently, has been confirmed in this part-time position (and qualified for a full-time position if funding for such a position becomes available) at Edmonton. Congratulations and welcome! Fr. Leo also has a parish of 1000 families and is on the personnel committee of his diocese, so he is not the sort of person who wastes much time.

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Fr. Paul Smith, a member of the Franciscan order, has been appointed full-time R.C. chaplain at Drumheller Institution effective 1 March 1989. He comes to this ministry from Lumsden, Saskatchewan. Welcome! Thanks are extended to the (Anglican) deacon Alan Mossbargar and Rev. Gary Dombrosky for interim ministry.

Fr. Hervé Vallée has been appointed R.C. Chaplain at Saskatchewan Penitentiary, including the HMSU and the farm, effective immediately. Fr. Vallée is a longtime resident of Prince Albert having taught school and fulfilled many functions within the local Christian community. We welcome him to this important ministry.

The Rev. Brian Penny has accepted an appointment to be Protestant Chaplain in the penitentiaries at Prince Albert: Saskatchewan Penitentiary, High Maximum Security,and the Farm. He will commence in early summer. Brian is completing extensive training in CPE at North Dakota State Hospital. He is native of Virden, Manitoba, a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, married with three children. We extend to him and his family a warm welcome.

Thanks are extended to those who did interim ministry up until these appointments: Rev. Bill Jackson, Rev. Dennis Serface, and Rev. Bruce Gourlay.

Personal

Rev. Neil deHaan, volunteer chaplain at the Osborne Correctional Centre, is holidaying with his wife in New Zealand and Australia.

The Prairie chaplains beat the Pacific chaplains in volleyball during a recent combined training event held in Banff, by the score of 279 - 278 (?). "Interesting if true".

Professional Development of Chaplains

Sr. Liette Godin of the Regional Psychiatric Centre, Rev. Hardy Engler of Stony Mountain, and Rev. Dennis Johnson of Rockwood all attended the Phase II orientation program in Montreal 23-27 January 1989.

The chaplains of the region met with the chaplains of the Pacific region in Banff in early February. The Director of Chaplaincy spoke on the mission statement, and Ms. Marilyn McKenzie spoke on the effective use of volunteers.

to do a workshop with the and how to develop this 13 - 15 March 1989.

on the Religious education Foundation. At least two

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Rev. M. Kornfeld and Rev. Bob Bhyre (Edmonton and Drumheller respectively) attended a workshop in Brooks, Alberta entitled "Communicating the Gospel for our Time".

Rev. Tom Kartzmark has been invited chaplains in Alberta on dis cipling aspect of Christian growth in prison.

29 -31 March there will be workshop material prepared by the Shekinah chaplains are planning to attend.

Institutional News

At Drumheller the AWCP with chaplaincy sponsored a workshop on marriage communication . 10 inmate couples attended.

At Bowden Rev. David Price has been developing the methodology of Education for Transformation in the religious education ministry there. A two-day workshop was recently held on the Kerygma Bibles Study of the United Church of Canada. Dr. Keith Gross of Edmonton donated of his time to train eight inmate leaders in the teaching method. The military chaplain at Penhold has become involved as a volunteer leader. The United Church is generously supplying student materials at about half the market cost. Both R.C. and Protestant chaplains have been associated with this initiative'.

Rev. Franklin Andrews of Stony Mountain will be attending part of the Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution to be held in Montreal 28 Feb. till 5 March.

PACIFIC REGION

Personnel

Rev. Maurice Desjardins of Regional Reception Centre in Quebec Region will be filling in for a couple of months as Catholic Chaplain at Mountain, Kent, and Elbow Lake. Thanks are expressed to the authorities of the Quebec region for facilitating this very helpful move.

Personal

Fr. Agnelo Pinto of Mission and Ferndale is holidaying in his home land of India. This will have been his first trip home since losing both of his parents. This trip will have a component of reconciliation and grief work in it.

r

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Professional Development of Chaplains

The chaplains of the region met with those of the Prairie region in joint workshop described above.

Rev. Arne Jensen of Kent and Mountain attended the Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution in Montreal at the end of February.

Rev. David Hilderman will attend a workshop with other people from correctional programs on native spirituality in March.

Rev. Larry Gessner of William Head and Sr. Noella Brisson of the Regional Psychiatric Centre attended the Phase II orientation week in Montreal 23-27 January 1989.

Developments in Chaplaincy Ministry

Operation Love-Gift, a ministry to the incarcerated offered by the Anglican Parish in Agassiz, hopes to employ the Rev. Robert Deppish, doing part-time ministry in Kent and Mountain, on a half time basis.

The chaplaincy in the region is moving towards a mode of preventive program oriented ministry and away from a therapeutic crisis model.

A group of chaplains is working to obtain group rates to attend the National Chaplains' Conference in June in the National Capital Region.

Another group of chaplains is researching the travel needs of prisoners' families in Vancouver visiting institutions inland.

Matsqui and Kent chaplaincies have invited the Rev. Bill Jackson to present a workshop in their respective institutions on the spirituality of communication. At Matsqui it will be with staff and in Kent with inmates.

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THE MISSION OF THE CORRECTIONAL SERVICE CANADA

Rev. Dr. Pierre Allard, Director Chaplaincy

On November 28, 1983 Mr Ole Ingstrup arrived in Canada from Denmark. He was coming to serve as a special advisor to the then Commissioner, Donald Yeomans. After extensive travel across Canada and interviews with hundreds of CSC managers, Ole Ingstrup became convinced that the CSC # 1 problem was not the lack of resources, either monetary or in personnel, neither was it the lack of proper structures. The # 1 problem was in the lack of a clear direction, of a clear vision for the Service.

Ole Ingstrup, with his co-workers, articulated what such a Mission/Vision could be in the Report on the Statement of CSC Values, November 1984. This report was for me, at that time, like a breadth of fresh air. Finally, someone was reflecting on our Correctional System not out of a crisis situation but out of real questions relating to principles and values. I was then, and remain convinced, to quote Gerald Austin McHugh, that:

Specific practices of any prison system stem from penal ideology; and for as long as the underlying assumptions and supporting ideology of the penal system remain unexamined and unchallenged, then that system will successfully resist all but the most superficial of changes.(1)

The 1984 Report, known as the 'Green Book', met with SMC approval but was never to receive the necessary emphasis under Commissioner Rhéal Leblanc Who by then had replaced Donald Yeomans.

It was no surprise, when following his appointment last summer, Ole Ingstrup almost immediately set up a task force on the Mission of CSC and asked Willie Gibbs to chair it. I was privileged to be part of this task force and value this experience as one of the most rewarding experiences of my 17 years involvement with CSC.

Is the new Mission Document worth all the attention it is receiving ? One biblical proverb says: " It is stupid to lose time on worthless projects." Have we lost hundreds of hours in the last few months ? The answer is an absolute 'no'. Another proverb also says: " Where there is no vision the people perish "(Prov. 29;18), (or "go unrestrained", "go in all directions without purpose"). Many companies avoided bankruptcy in recent years by focusing on a specific mission and living by clearly enunciated guiding principles and values. Now, CSC is not Ford, Dofasco or Campbell Soup. CSC is not in a profit making enterprise. Our business is people. Can we, in CSC, have a rallying focus, a unifying vision, agreed upon guiding principles and values powerful enough to shed light on the paths we travel

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along side thousands of individuals with multiple problems? Is the new Mission strong enough to help us succeed where family, Sunday School, Churches, Society have failed ? The challenge is unbelievable and will require commitment from the highest levels down and from each and every employee.

More specifically for us as chaplains, is the Mission a mission to which we can commit ourselves wholeheartedly ? My answer in an unequivocal 'yes'. Not only the five core values of the Mission do not contradict the basic beliefs of a Judeo/Christian tradition or of any major world religion but these values provide us with an incredible opportunity to bring to bear the richness of our biblical/theological heritage.

I would call on all chaplains to become well acquainted with the Mission document. Memorize the Mission statement. See how the emphasis is on "actively encouraging and assisting offenders " ..Realize how this is a commitment to creative programming. I would then challenge us all to begin linking the core values with our biblical/theological perspective. For example, when core value # 1 states: "We respect the dignity of individuals ", I say 'bravo' and the biblical theme of the Imago Dei comes to my heart and mind. Because I believe, in the words of Reinhold Neibuhr, that: " The first fact about man is that he is a child of God made in God's image."(2), then whatever the brokenness and the ugliness confronting me, I attempt to treat each and every human being with dignity. As the British Prison Service Chaplaincy says:

though the "image of God" in man can become badly blurred or sadly distorted, it can never be entirely obliterated. Indeed, it is to be especially looked for in the 'least of the brethren', for it is when man looks least god-like that we are at greatest risk of seeing him, and so treating him, in a literally superficial way --as what he looks like on the surface rather that as what he really is. And in failing to recognize and reverence the other, we are already demeaning not only him but ourselves too.(3)

When core value # 2 states: " We recognize that the offender has the potential to live as a law-abiding citizen.", I again say a sober 'bravo' realizing how the road back for some is steep and difficult. Conscious of the hostility that exists between society and the offenders, I see this core value challenging us to work at breaking down walls. The dichotomy "we-they" must not only disappear from our vocabulary but more importantly from our attitudes. Alexander Solzhenitsyn says it best:

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If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. (4)

When I further read that the " involvement of community organizations, volunteers...will be actively encouraged." (last guiding principle under core value 2) and that we must " ensure that volunteers form an integral part of our program delivery in institutions and the community." (8.0.2.12),1 rejoice that the pioneering work of chaplains with volunteers is being so highly recognized. Our new National Chaplaincy Volunteer Association (NCVA) and the Community Chaplaincies for Ex-Offenders are right on target to contribute to the implementation of the Mission.

When core value # 3 states: " We believe that our strength and our major resource in achieving our objectives is our staff and that human relationships are the cornerstone of our endeavour.", I wholeheartedly agree and I think of Paul's example of the body and how interdependent, co-dependent we all are. Chaplains have always seen themselves as relating not only to offenders but to staff. We are being challenged to help staff not lose hope in their difficult task. Our Mission does not promise quick results. The task is an arduous one. Justice Joseph Archambault in his 1938 report said: " Works not words make a good chaplain". The guiding principle under core value 3 says: " We lead by example." What should be our involvement in E.A.P. ? in the special weekends for staff ? How do we convey to the staff our desire to make team with them ? How do we turn the tensions that might exist into creative tensions ? How do we bring to bear our unique biblical /theological perspective on the correctional process in total respect of the others' different perspectives ? How do we challenge without becoming a nuisance ? We must learn to articulate credible answers to all these questions in our daily lives.

When core value # 4 states: "We believe that the sharing of ideas, knowledge, values and experience...", I think of the commandment not to " hide our light under the bushel ". It seems clear to me that chaplains have to learn to share their ideas better in writing. The up-coming history of chaplaincy should contribute to making us proud of our tradition and encourage us in becoming more creative and productive in putting pen to paper and sharing the results of the involvement of so many from a spiritual perspective. This value is a call to growth through sharing.

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And finally, when core value # 5 states: " We believe in managing the Service with openness and integrity...", I say a big 'bravo' this time. How open are we in chaplaincy ? We need to examine ourselves in light of this value. The following guiding principle strikes a cord in me: " We believe that through a sense of history and a desire to learn from past experiences, we can shape our future and strive for excellence in achieving our Mission." So much of what we do in corrections is turned toward the past, that it is refreshing to hear a statement focused on the future. We learn from the past experiences, we have a sense of our historical tradition but we are turned toward the future to shape it (' Futura recipere',says the CSC motto) and in doing so we strive for excellence. Did not Paul say something similar: " Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal..."(Phil.3:13). And what about the final words of the Mission document: " To pursue our Mission in a way that exemplifies at all times our values and guiding principles so that our integrity is never compromised." One could preach a few sermons on this last strategic objective 5:10. A co-worker shared the following quote about integrity with me the other morning:

What is a person of integrity like ? There is a Yiddish word which is untranslatable but describes him or her perfectly,a mensch. To be a mensch is to be the kind of person God had in mind when He arranged for human beings to evolve, someone who is honest, reliable, wise enough to be no longer naive but not yet cynical, a person you can trust to give you advice for your benefit rather than his or her own. A mensch acts not out of fear or out of the desire to make a good impression but out of a strong inner conviction of who he or she is and what he or she stands for. A mensch is not a saint or a perfect person but a person from whom all falsehood, all selfishness, all vindictiveness have been burned away so that only a pure self remains. A mensch is whole and is one with his or her God.(5)

We need to examine ourselves, to let chaplains and chaplaincies be confronted by the Mission values.

As I review the Mission document, my conviction remains unchanged: The Mission sets forth a challenging task for all employees of the CSC. It sets a high ideal based on solid and lasting values such as the dignity of the individual - both offender and staff, the duty to act fairly, to be accountable, the need for open communication, the importance of contacts with families, and the outside community as an integral partner in corrections. The Mission is in many ways a call to care, community and creativity. Whatever the criticisms of the Mission, it can never be suggested that it is lacking in a spirit of optimism, of hope in the future. In a sense, the Mission may be prophetic in calling for a more satisfactory way of dealing

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with crime and offenders than what has thus far been devised. Chaplaincy, of all departments, should be among the most enthusiastic promoters of the Mission as it revisits many underlying assumptions of the penal system. The spiritual dimension of life is directly linked to attitudes of respect and caring. How can the staff face up to the challenge of the Mission without being confronted with their own limitations, fears, hopes ? It is easy to let our vision go dull, to stop seeing the deep spiritual needs behind the masks of hatred, selfishness or indifference. Chaplaincy has much to contribute in the bringing of hopefulness into every human situation, not least into that of the Correctional Service Canada where there can be so much tension, pain and temptation to despair.

May God strengthen us as we set our hearts and minds to such a task

Dr Pierre Allard Director Chaplaincy ---- (1)Gerald Austin McHugh, Christian Faith and Criminal Justice: Tovard a Christian Response to Crime and Punishment, (New York/Ramsey/Toronto: Paulist Press, 1978), p. 3. (2)Reinhold Niebuhr, Mature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953), one volume edition, p. 12-13. (3)Prison Service Chaplaincy, The Prison Ethos, (London: Prison Service Chaplaincy, September 1982), p. 1. (4)Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago I, (Fontana, 1974), p. 168. (5)Harold Kushner, When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough, p.134.

89/02/27

iffe)tke!

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AIDS AND THE THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS

Rev. David McKenzie, Matsqui Inst.

Sometimes people ask for a theology of AIDS. I have a problem with this. Christian theology should not begin or end in an event or a disease for that would be idolatry. I have trouble thinking about a theology of AIDS, as in one about the Black Plague or birth control techniques. Instead Christian theology must begin and end in the notion of One Supreme Being who continuously creates and interacts lovingly with creation and, in particular, mankind. It is the God, as Paul says to his Athenian listeners, "in whom we live and move and have our being."

Our task is to enlarge our theology so that it encompasses AIDS. Our task is to stretch our boundaries - to discover new worlds by having the courage to lose sight of the shores of our previous limited theology of God and his activity among us. Whenever our theology is thus "reformed", it will stand to be reformed again, and again. As Karl Barth would say, theology must always follow the activity of God and never determine it.

So there is not a "Theology of AIDS" as such. There is only a theology which includes the grim reality of AIDS and its victims, and asks the question "What has the Good News to say to this?". It is precisely this question which turns us to the theme of this paper - the Theology of the Cross as it pertains to AIDS.

The Problem

It was about a year ago while doing a pastoral clinical program in AIDS at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, B.C. that a woman from a local West Vancouver parish approached me and asked if I would consider giving my opinion on the AIDS crisis from a theological point of view to a panel of medical doctors and sociologists. (Most people in West Vancouver are well off from a material point of view.) In the context of the ensuing discussion I was able to share that the AIDS crisis in this time of history has for me the same theological import as any life-threatening disease. AIDS confronts us with our own darkness and utter bankruptcy before God. I was careful to add that AIDS patients themselves were in no way morally or physically inferior to the rest of humanity. However, those suffering from AIDS show the rest of us in a visible way what all of us are: alone, destitute and on our way to death. But. I added, this is good news, for we cannot be resurrected until we face those troubles about ourselves. So, persons with AIDS, as tragic and horrible as this disease is, actually point us to a lighted pathway to our redemption.

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Upon hearing my views the woman retorted emotionally, almost in a whisper, "You don't actually believe that the people of West Vancouver will accept that do you? I mean, you cannot honestly say, can you, that they are destitute and in darkness?" At first I thought the lady was jesting with me, but in only a matter of seconds I perceived that she was serious. With equal seriousness and with as much compassion as I could command, I responded, "Why, yes, I do believe this with all my heart. In fact I would think that those living in West VAncouver would be in greater darkness and suffering from more destitution than most of the remainder of Vancouver." I added the later sentence only to give more punch to what I was trying to say. Politely the lady ended the conversation and we went our separate ways. I was never contacted by her again.

Sadly enough the response of this West Vancouver woman is only typical of the attitude that the vast majority of people have towards their lives in general and AIDS in particular. How do we as ministers of Christ approach this dilemma? How do we convince our bothers and sisters, if in fact we are all in agreement that we should convince them, that individually and collectively we are spiritually bankrupt and destitute? How do we show our neighbours that until we enter into our darkness and encounter our brokenness and aloneness and ultimately our own death that we cannot know true spiritual maturity and emotional growth? How can we help ourselves to see that AIDS with its destructive ensuing issues of sexuality and alienation (in particular familial alienation) points to our general sexual brokenness and alienation from dod and from each. other. AIDS causes us to confront issues which we would wish to flee from. In his brilliant and intense article AIDS: A Challenge to the Churches, Stephen Manning aptly expresses this theme as follows: "The person with AIDS is a stranger to us, an omen of sexual fear, and a terrible threat to our passionate struggle to insulate ourselves from death. AIDS is a challenge to us as religious people because it unearths the demons that we all try to repress and presses us to face them in their unmasked starkness." (Quoted from the "Church and AIDS - an Introductory Resource", prepared by the Anglican Church of Canada, June 1988.)

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And so to help us answer the question posed above, how can we as ministers of Christ, ordained or lay, convince our brothers and sisters that they are broken and destitute and in darkness, we turn to Paul Tillich, who in his convocation address to the graduating students of Union Theological Seminary stated it this way: "The first difficulty you will experience when Jesus sends you ahead of him and gives you the power of healing is that many people will tell you that they do not need to be healed. And if you come to them with the claim that you will cast out the demons that rule their lives they will laugh at you and assure you that mu are possessed by a demon - just as they said to Jesus".

"Therefore, the first task of minister is to make men aware of their predicament. There is no easy way to make them aware of their predicament. God, certainly, has His ways of doing so. He shakes the complacency of those who consider themselves healthy by hurling them, both externally and internally, into darkness and despair. He reveals to them what they are by splitting the foundations of their self-assurance. He reveals their blindness towards themselves. This we cannot achieve, not even for ourselves. But if it happens, we can become tools of the power that may heal others." (Tillich, Paul, The External Now, Scribner's Sons, New York 1963.

The Vision

As paradoxical as it may appear, then, the AIDS epidemic and those beautiful human beings suffering under its ravages really are lighted pathways to our redemption. For if we have the courage to face the AIDS issue squarely, and minister to those who have it, just as Christ or St. Francis ministered to the lepers of their times, then we will surely see a vision. It is a cross beside our Saviour, sharing abundantly "in Christ's suffering" (2 Cor. 1:5). It is Christ who hangs there for us and with us - the suffering God who totally identifies with our predicament and our God-forsakenness. For us He died. And in our own way we take up the call of our Lord and suffer with and for our brothers and sisters who are alone and dying beside us. "For we know," said St. Paul, "that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort." (2 Cor. 1:7) In a very real way, the person with AIDS will be our comfort.

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This is the cross we must bear. This is the cross we must allow ourselves to be nailed to so that entering into our own death. which is in fact linked with the death of every man and woman among us, healthy or diseased, we may be resurrected by God. Only as we go on to that cross and identify with the brokenness outside us and within us can we hope to find resurrection in Christ.

The theology which encompasses the AIDS crisis is a theology of the Cross, for it inevitably points to our death and beyond to our resurrection by God in Jesus Christ. This is good news. This is our lighted pathway.

And so the saying of St. Paul takes on new meaning in this context: "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Gal. 2:20)

(A paper delivered to the B.C. Provincial Correctional Chaplains, Rosemary Heights, Surrey, B.C., 22 Feb. 1989.