The third sign of the times that Pope Francis speaks of is a call for us to be signs of hope “for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind. I think of prisoners who, deprived of their freedom, daily feel the harshness of detention and its restrictions, lack of affection and, in more than a few cases, lack of respect for their persons. I propose that in this Jubilee Year governments undertake initiatives aimed at restoring hope; forms of amnesty or pardon meant to help individuals regain confidence in themselves and in society; and programmes of reintegration in the community, including a concrete commitment to respect for law.” This could be a sign of hope that a lot of people could find difficult to accept and especially to become. Pope Francis, like two of his predecessors Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, has visited prisons in Rome. A great example of this came when Pope St. John Paul II met the man who attempted to assassinate him in St. Peter’s Square, had a conversation with him and forgave him.
Pope Francis sees the basis of this sense of being a sign of, and sharing the gift of, hope to prisoners as something based in the scriptural foundation of the celebration of jubilee years: This is an ancient appeal, one drawn from the word of God, whose wisdom remains ever timely. It calls for acts of clemency and liberation that enable new beginnings: “You shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants” (Leviticus 25:10). This institution of the Mosaic law was later taken up by the prophet Isaiah: “The Lord has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour” (Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus made those words his own at the beginning of his ministry, presenting himself as the fulfilment of the “year of the Lord’s favour” (cf. Luke 4:18-19). In every part of the world, believers, and their Pastors in particular, should be one in demanding dignified conditions for those in prison, respect for their human rights and above all the abolition of the death penalty, a provision at odds with Christian faith and one that eliminates all hope offorgiveness and rehabilitation. In order to offer prisoners a concrete sign of closeness, I would myself like to open a Holy Door in a prison, as a sign inviting prisoners to look to the future with hope and a renewed sense of confidence.”
The point I would highlight from the last quote is where Pope Francis speaks about the death penalty. The reason he gives for abolishing is a truly Christian approach in the light of the virtue of hope.