A depiction of St. Paul in prison. Image licensed through Cathopic
By Laura Melius
Feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, burying the dead. As Catholics, we are all called to administer the corporal works of mercy to others. However, “visiting the imprisoned” is one work of mercy that many have not yet experienced.
South Dakota’s population currently includes approximately 6,500 incarcerated individuals in its jails and prisons. The Diocese of Sioux Falls Prison Ministry is a ministry of those called to bring the Good News of the Gospel and the Catholic faith to all people incarcerated in the state of South Dakota.
Much needed ministry
Our Lady of Victory Pastorate, which includes the parishes of St. George, Hartford, and St. Michael, Sioux Falls, has been assigned oversight of the prison ministry for the Sioux Falls Department of Corrections facilities and the Minnehaha County Jail. This ministry provides Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) classes, Mass and confessions, along with opportunities for Baptism, first confession, Holy Communion and Confirmation. Father Tom Hartman, pastor of Our Lady of Victory Pastorate, along with the pastorate parochial vicars, assist with the sacraments and one-on-one visits with the inmates in these facilities.
Deacon Tim Dickes is the primary minister at the Minnehaha County Jail and assists in ministry at the Sioux Falls prisons. As a deacon candidate in 2015, he was asked to complete a six-month practicum in prison ministry. His first experience with the South Dakota Department of Corrections was attending Mass at the Sioux Falls prison.
During his previous 21-year career as an electrician and facilities manager at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Yankton, he had been trained to never befriend an inmate. For the first time, he would be praying with and for them.
“It was a mind-set I needed to prayerfully overcome,” Deacon Dickes explained. “My perspective needed to change from being in law enforcement and overseeing offenders as convicted felons to fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Deacon Dickes discerned to complete his practicum at the Minnehaha County Jail, shadowing the late Father A. W. Ramos. Father Ramos, who was experiencing health issues and the death of both of his parents at the time, asked if Deacon Dickes’ wife, Julie, would minister to the women at the jail.
“I started to minister to the ladies,” Julie said, “but after Tim’s spiritual director recommended we minister as a couple, we now minister to both ladies and men at the jail. We recognized early on the priest’s wisdom. When one of us is praying for the inmate, the other is interceding. It has been very rewarding for us to do this as a couple.”
After his ordination to the permanent diaconate in 2018, Bishop Swain assigned Deacon Dickes to prison ministry, where he and Julie continue to be assigned to this day.
Mo Irvine, prison ministry coordinator and prison missionary for the diocese, began volunteering inside the prisons in Sioux Falls in January 2019 after reaching out to the priest chaplain at the time, Father Jeff Norfolk. She first attended a Bible study.
“What began as one night every other week quickly became three times a week, and that eventually turned into full time ministry,” she said of her current position in the diocese.
Volunteers should first discern
Besides the priests, deacons and other individuals assigned to formal prison ministry, many also volunteer at their county jails. Understandably, entering into this unique area of ministry can come with many questions.
“Prison is a world of its own, so people are often curious about what takes place inside prison,” Mo explained. “It can be helpful to ask questions and figure out how you’d like to get involved based on your interests and gifts.”
Volunteers can assist with many different aspects of ministry. These can include helping with Bible studies, music ministry at Masses, or weekend retreats, as well as other areas.
“Maybe you’re called to visit a county jail near you because there isn’t a Catholic presence there. We can help you navigate it and provide resources and support,” Mo explained. “We also have several people who are a part of prison ministry through their prayers and support, though they don’t go inside the prison.”
Deacon Tim recommends that both careful discernment and a consultation with the Prison Ministry Office are essential first steps when considering prison ministry. “Due to the nature of ministering in correctional facilities and the souls we are ministering to, one must carefully discern that they are being called to this ministry of those who are incarcerated,” he said.
The South Dakota Department of Corrections has a required annual training for those interested in volunteering. The training is generic, teaching the “do’s and don’ts” of all faiths volunteering at the jail. With any correctional facility, potential volunteers will need to complete necessary paperwork and undergo a background check.
After that clears, “Come and see,” Mo encourages. “Visiting the imprisoned is a work of mercy to which every Christian is called. What that looks like will vary based on the individual. It’s a unique place with ever-changing dynamics, but the consistent thing is God is at work in the hearts and minds of those behind the walls.”
“We draw upon a special grace to not judge those in jail or prison,” Deacon Tim added. “We encourage everyone to ask for that grace as well.”
Inside the walls
In her years of prison ministry, Mo has found that she has much more in common with the person in front of her than either of them would have expected.
“Two of the main things we have in common are the human experience and my need for God,” she shared. “I haven’t grown up with the same suffering and difficulties a lot of the men I work with have, but I’ve never met a person, whether in prison or not, who hasn’t suffered. I’ve never met a person who hasn’t longed to be seen, known and loved. I’ve never met a person who doesn’t desire meaning and purpose for their life.”
It has been a humbling privilege for both missionaries, and their opportunities to minister have been as varied as the individuals themselves.
“The jail ministry is unique from the prison because those incarcerated there are deemed innocent until proven guilty,” Deacon Dickes explained. “The ministry is one of listening, encouraging and praying them through their regrets, fears, loneliness and spiritual poverty.”
Deacon Dickes and Julie consistently witness God’s mercy in amazing ways and have come to realize that what the public may hear may not be the whole story.
“We want to ask not to judge by what is heard in the media because the complete details of someone’s incarceration may not all be revealed because of the investigation,” Deacon Dickes said. “That is where prayer for the truth to be revealed and for peace for the offender, wisdom for those defending them, and all those making decisions for their future is important.”
Many of the individuals they minister to in jail are ultimately sentenced to prison. At times, Deacon Dickes and Julie will attend their trials, sentencing and pray for them and all those making decisions for their future. In doing this they never condone the crime that was committed but rather express God’s mercy from their hearts. It is then they also pray for healing for the victims and their loved ones.
Mo shared, “I’ve listened to someone’s struggle with addiction, told one man his father died, prayed with someone who may not live through the night, was introduced by a man on death row to people who want to give God a chance, talked about spiritual fatherhood to men who don’t have contact with their children, and countless other moments. These are unique situations where I am able to glimpse below the surface and see how God is working with our broken humanity. Each of these moments of longing are like cracks in the heart where God wants to pour in and make his love known.”
Michael’s story
One of Deacon Dickes and Julie’s most impactful encounters involves Michael, with whom the couple still remain in contact. Michael was first referred to them by another young man to whom they were ministering in jail. After a time of encouragement from his cellmate, Michael agreed to meet them. Michael had been away from his Catholic faith for over 35 years.
“As he began to trust us, he was open to going to confession and receiving Holy Communion again. We witnessed an infusion of grace in Michael, and we praise God for the mighty work he is doing,” Deacon Dickes said.
While still in jail, Michael began to evangelize and mentor several men on his block. He was exonerated, and, since his release, he continues to visit the men over video, assists in commissary money to those who have no one to help them, and attends many of their sentencings.
“Once released from jail, he helped bring his 85-year-old mother back to her Catholic faith,” Deacon Dickes said. “Since then, he has come to realize that his mother and her sister, who is Michael’s godmother, are second cousins to Pope John XXIII. This is something he takes great pride in.”
Michael has shared that the freedom he found behind bars was life-changing.
“One of the fears he had of coming back to his Catholic faith was, ‘Why would anyone want someone like me back?’ He understands now about God’s mercy and love for him in spite of his past,” Deacon Dickes shared.
Preaching the Gospel
Mo recalled a conversation that clearly showed God working in an inmate’s life. She was making weekly rounds in the disciplinary unit with her sister, and they stopped to visit with a man in the unit. Although previous conversations with him had consisted of superficial subjects, the conversation on this particular day was different.
“I asked if he had ever visited the cathedral. He hadn’t, but said one day he would,” Mo said. She recalled that he then told them, “I’ll go into the cathedral and holler, ‘Mo, Trish, where are you?’ and people will ask me how I know you guys. I’ll tell them, ‘They came to prison and preached the Gospel to me.’”
Mo said that after that day, he began to ask about different aspects of the Catholic Church. “Before then, our conversation rarely touched on Jesus, but he knew why we were there. He knew it was really all about Jesus, even without us saying so.”
After prison
While being released from prison is the goal, the end of one’s incarceration does not mean the end to challenges and difficulties. Adjusting to life after imprisonment requires additional prayer and support.
“This is another ministry in itself. So many have lost everything because of incarceration,” Deacon Dickes explained.
“I’d encourage people interested in helping with this to reach out to the office to talk about what they’d be comfortable doing,” Mo said. “We need people to go to Mass with them, have a cup of coffee with them, be someone they can process daily life with—a type of mentor.”
When inmates are getting ready to parole or be released from prison, Mo can connect them with individuals based on where they will be living.
“If I can have connections with people all across the state, we can build a network of community for these guys so they know what the Catholic Church family is really like beyond prison,” she said. “Some guys tell me they are intimidated to show up at church alone because they think people will judge them or think they don’t belong there. I want them to know this is exactly where they belong and that people who’ve never met them care for them, too.”
Several agencies are available for assistance, such as the St. Francis House, Bishop Dudley Hospitality House, the Union Gospel Mission and St. Vincent de Paul Society, to name a few.
“But the real need is for affordable housing and the opportunity to earn a fair wage at a job,” Deacon Dickes said.
This can be further complicated by the need to obtain a birth certificate, Social Security card, driver’s license or identification card or to meet transportation needs.
“We pray for employers who are willing to hire felons and rental agencies to trust renting to them to give them the second chance they so desperately need,” he added.
Dignity and worth
Mo shared that one of her favorite quotes is from Thomas Merton, which reads, “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.”
“Ministering in the prison offers the unique and repeated opportunity to love people who society doesn’t think are worthy of much,” Mo said. “It isn’t always easy to do this, but the practice of engaging this type of love for others causes me to grow and encounter the Lord in new ways.”
A man with whom Deacon Dickes and Julie recently prayed wrote a note thanking them for their prayers and assuring them of his prayers for them.
He concluded with this prayer: “Heavenly Father, I wanted to say thank you for having faith in me when I didn’t have faith in myself. Thank you, Father, for loving me when I couldn’t love myself. Father, thank you for forgiving me when I couldn’t forgive myself. Father, thank you for your amazing grace. Without it, I would have lost myself. Father, thank you for picking me up every time I fall, for picking me up every time I call. Thank you, Father, for being my calm in the storm. Most of all, thank you for never leaving me. I just wanted to say thank you, Father, and I love you, too. Amen.”
