Office of Correctional Ministries hosts annual Kolbe Prison Ministries conference in The Woodlands

(Photo courtesy of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church)THE WOODLANDS — On July 13, the Office of Correctional Ministries, in conjunction with St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in The Woodlands, hosted the annual Kolbe Prison Ministries Conference.  

Despite the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, about 200 volunteers in prison ministry came together from all over the country for fellowship and to learn about some of the people they have helped. Participants came from as far west as Reno, Nevada, as far east as Florida, and as far north as Kansas City, Missouri.  

Kolbe Prison Ministries is presently conducting retreats for both men and women in prisons in Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma and in state prisons and federal prisons across Texas. The ministry also is about to expand into Arkansas. All these retreats are run by volunteers.   

Correctional Ministries Associate Director Scott Underwood was the emcee for the event. Speakers included formerly incarcerated individuals, Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J., of EWTN, and Texas Department of Criminal Justice Senior Warden William Wheat, of the TDCJ Ferguson Unit, with opportunities for question-and-answer sessions.  

Attendees were also able to learn from Kolbe Prison Ministries board members about how to put on a Kolbe Retreat. Participants had access to venerate the 60-plus saint relics in St. Anthony’s Our Lady of Angels Chapel. Father Pacwa and Warden Wheat were the keynote speakers. Warden Wheat also brought some crafts made by the inmates at the Ferguson unit that were then raffled off to those who donated more than $100.  

The conference ended with Mass celebrated by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo with Father Pacwa, Father Jesse Garcia, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua, and Father Viet Nguyen, parochial vicar of St. Anthony of Padua concelebrating. Correctional Ministries Director Deacon Alvin Lovelady proclaimed the Gospel, and Cardinal DiNardo gave the homily.  

At the end of the Mass, Cardinal DiNardo presented Stephen Capps with a certificate of appreciation for the St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVdP) of St. Anthony of Padua. He was also presented with a picture drawn by an inmate of Jesus washing the feet of a disciple on behalf of the Office of Correctional ministries for all the support this SVdP Society has provided to the incarcerated.