Bishop Richard Moth, Bishop of Arundel and Brighton and Lead Bishop for Prisons, reflected on the Church’s role in supporting those involved in the criminal justice system.
At the bishops’ autumn plenary meeting in November 2025, Bishop Richard Moth, Bishop of Arundel and Brighton and Lead Bishop for Prisons, reflected on the Church’s role in supporting those involved in the criminal justice system.
In an interview recorded at the end of the plenary meeting, Bishop Moth reflected on the importance of remembering all the people who, in different ways, are impacted by the criminal justice system. In addition to the victims of crime and those who have committed crimes, he recalled with particular emphasis, “the hidden victims: the children of people in prison spring to mind, because very often they struggle. They may be bullied at school. They may be trying to live their lives with excuses to why mum or dad aren’t around.”
Bishop Moth also highlighted the challenges faced by those who work in the sector:
“Prison officers are under increasing pressure, as well as those who work in our court system, which is still struggling to catch up after the impact of the COVID pandemic. Also the probation service, which is under-resourced and facing many challenges in giving the support they need to ex-offenders.”
Prison chaplains continue to play a vital role in the development of prisoners’ engagement with faith, including through the provision of courses in Scripture to help people deepen their faith.
Ensuring prisoners have access to the chapel for prayer and worship has long been a priority as Bishop Moth explained:
“It’s not uncommon for those in prison to rediscover their faith or to find faith for the first time. We have our right to worship, and so exercising that right to be able to attend Mass and other services in chapel is really important for those in prison.”
He added, “It’s important that time in chapel is recognised by the prison system as time well spent, as a valuable way of spending some of your time in the prison system.”
Bishop Moth also reflected on the many practical ways in which Catholic communities can respond to the challenges around criminal justice. First and foremost, Bishop Moth said, “Our parish communities need to become places where those who serve their time in prison can be welcomed.”
The ‘Welcome Directory’ serves as a tool for this important work, providing a network of faith or belief communities across England and Wales with the capacity to offer appropriate and safe welcome for supporting people leaving prison.
Bishop Moth proposed that due consideration should be given to “making some of our parish halls and meeting rooms available to the probation service to enable people to get to their probation officer more easily.”
He explained, “Sometimes people are recalled to prison because they can’t get to their probation officer, and so if we could help the probation service by providing some space to make it easier for people to meet with their probation officer, that would be one really valuable way of helping us get over this problem of the ‘revolving door’.”
As we move towards the season of Advent and Christmas, Bishops will be visiting prisons, often going on Christmas Day to celebrate Mass. Bishop Moth described this important witness as a way to “enable those in prison to know that they are not forgotten by the Church community and that the shepherd of the diocese is coming to shepherd them as he would anybody in his diocese and community. That’s a very, very powerful experience for those who are serving their sentences.”
Watch the video reflection at the top of this page or on YouTube.
Bishop Wright on his visit to the remote Rushinga District in north eastern Zimbabwe.
