Annual Report. PATRIARCHAL CURIA UGCC 2019

58 Penitentiary chaplaincy Soc ial ser v i ces for people in need I was in prison and you visited me Mt 25:36 The UGCC Penitentiary chaplaincy office coordinates the ministry of 32 prison chaplains who work in 32 prisons serving around 13, 500 prisoners. The penitentiary system of Ukraine has been undergoing a constant reform process. Very often it is not receptive to the spiritual needs of prisoners and our efforts to provide spiritual care to inmates and prison staff. Prison chaplains in Ukraine work on a voluntary basis in prisons and their official status is not fully regulated. "We are constantly proposing our initiatives to the state institutions. One of them is to introduce an interconfessional initiative "5 minutes meeting with a chaplain", where pris- on chaplains of different religious confessions on a rotational basis will be able to have a spiritual/motivational conversation with prisons employees. Our goal is to change the perception of a prison system as a system of correctional institutions rather than punitive wards. We work not only with inmates but also with correctional institutions personnel on a constant basis," stated the head of Penitentiary chaplaincy office Rev. Constantyn Panteley.