Boston- Beginning his annual tour of local jails and prisons, Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley visited the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department Nashua Street Jail Wednesday, July 26. Each year, the Cardinal visits four or five correctional facilities to bring the Church to inmates and detainees. Although former Cardinal Bernard Law visited Suffolk County facilities, Wednesday’s tour of the Nashua Street Jail marked the first time a Cardinal has visited the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department since Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral took office.

Sheriff Cabral and Cardinal O’Malley had the chance to speak with one another over lunch, before the tour of the facility began. Cardinal O’Malley then visited several units of the jail, including the psychiatric unit and the segregation unit, where he offered blessings and prayers and spoke privately with many detainees.

“Cardinal O’Malley likes to visit jails and prisons because he believes the Church is everywhere,” said Deacon Bill Kane, Director of Prison Ministries for the Boston Archdiocese. “He feels it is important to remind the men and women in prison that he cares about them.”

The Cardinal is no stranger to life inside a jail. During the first two years after he was ordained as a Catholic priest, Cardinal O’Malley worked at a prison chapel in Pennsylvania.

“Cardinal O’Malley understands how difficult prison life can be, and can relate to the men and women in that situation,” Deacon Kane said.

Over the next five months, Cardinal O’Malley has plans to visit MCI Concord, the Bridgewater Correctional Facility, the Walpole Prison, and MCI Framingham.

“Cardinal O’Malley has a very busy schedule and I am honored that he found the time to visit the Jail and that I had the opportunity to speak with him,” said Sheriff Cabral. “We would be happy to have him visit our facilities again.”

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