Diocese’s first vicar for prison ministry has a heart for those who are incarcerated

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Fourteen years ago, while offering a final Mass at the old Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP) in Jefferson City, Father Joseph S. Corel reassured the Catholics there that Mass and the sacraments would follow them to the new prison.

“Wherever there are Catholics, the Church is there,” he said, “and there are graces given to everyone to be who God calls them to be.”

He emphasized that the Church has been involved in prison ministry since Apostolic times.

“We are part of prison ministry and that will continue,” he told the men at MSP.

Hoping to make good on that promise while solidifying and intensifying the Church’s outreach to the incarcerated, Bishop W. Shawn McKnight has appointed Fr. Corel to be the Jefferson City diocese’s first vicar for prison ministry.

He will serve as a resource to all the priests, deacons, sisters and lay volunteers who help sustain the Church in the nine state corrections facilities located in the diocese.

He will have general oversight over the local Church’s ministry to people in prison and jail, their families, people who work in prisons, and people who have been recently released.

“I will be responsible for coordinating Catholic ministry in the prisons, and helping the pastors and volunteers who are doing the ministry do it to the best of their ability,” he said.

There are about 13,400 men and women living in prisons in the diocese, in addition to those being held in 38 county jails.

“The sacraments are being provided, and visiting is happening in one form or another in all of the prisons in our diocese,” said Fr. Corel. “So I’ll start by finding out what the needs are and making sure that the people who are doing the ministry have what they need.”

He will carry out this assignment with an eye toward restorative justice, which is focused on healing the relationships that are broken among victims, offenders and society whenever a crime is committed.

 

“A calling from the Lord”

Fr. Corel is pastor of St. Andrew parish in Holts Summit.

He served as vicar general of the diocese from 2015 until November 2017 and will continue as diocesan transition coordinator until June 30.

He previously served for nine years as diocesan vocation director, for two years as interim diocesan director of Catholic schools and for five years as a prison chaplain.

He believes Bishop McKnight designated him a vicar — meaning one who stands in his place — rather than coordinator or liaison for prisons because the bishop sees prison ministry as a crucial facet of his role as shepherd of the diocese.

Fr. Corel said he was happy to be able to assist Bishop Emeritus John R. Gaydos in the years leading up to his retirement last fall, and now he’s pleased to assist a new bishop in a different way.

“When Bishop McKnight asked me to serve in this new role, it felt like a calling from the Lord, and I feel very good about it,” said Fr. Corel.

He said the purpose of the corrections system is to remove offenders from society for a certain period of time “so that they can get themselves right in order to be a better functioning member of that same society when they return to it.”

Punishment alone does not help the offender or society, he said.

“But when the goal of corrections is to give a person the skills and capacity to move in the direction of becoming a better member of society, while coming to a conscious awareness that what they did was harmful, then everybody wins,” he said.

Fr. Corel said a large part of his responsibility in this new role will be ensuring that an appropriately unified vision for prison ministry is communicated and carried out throughout the diocese.

“We all need to be working together toward the best restorative justice that we can have, knowing that there will always be challenges to bringing this about,” he said.

He believes the Church’s role in corrections is to help people get from vengeance to forgiveness and wholeness through grace.

Catholic Christians understand that Jesus is the ultimate healer and that “we’re all supposed to be conformed to the image of Jesus,” said Fr. Corel.

“He calls us to forgive and to reconcile,” he said. “Doing that on our own is probably impossible. But when you can do that with other people helping, leading and guiding, the community can heal and have less brokenness and more grace.”

 

To the altar of God

Born and raised in Naperville, Illinois, a son of Mary and the late Glenn J. “Jim” Corel, Fr. Corel grew up in nearby Earlville. He pursued a career in education before discerning a call to Priesthood.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Culver Stockton College in Canton and a master of divinity degree and a master of arts degree in pastoral studies, both from Kenrick Glennon-Seminary in St. Louis.

The topic of the oral exams for his master’s degree was “Helping Those in Prison Work Through Their Grief by Using Prayer Rituals.”

After ordination, he served as associate pastor of St. Peter parish, then of Cathedral of St. Joseph parish, both in Jefferson City. He was then appointed pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Loose Creek and St. Louis of France parish in Bonnots Mill. He served as Catholic chaplain at the Missouri State Penitentiary during those three assignments.

Fr. Corel served as diocesan vocation director from 2006-15 and helped run the Catholic School Office from 2013-15.

He was appointed vicar general and moderator of the curia of the diocese and pastor in Holts Summit on July 1, 2015.

As vicar general, he helped implement the bishop’s pastoral plan and a reorganization of the diocesan Chancery staff and helped oversee a comprehensive review of parish viability and vitality throughout the diocese.

 

Discovered his passion

Fr. Corel got involved in prison ministry as a seminarian in the St. Louis archdiocese.

“While I was there ministering to men and women in jails and prisons, I realized that this is something I can do well and that I have the gifts and desire to do,” he said.

He has been active since 2003 in the Residents Encounter Christ (REC) movement of spiritual encounter and renewal of prison residents.

In 2006, while he was chaplain at that Jefferson City Correctional Center, state budget cuts led to the laying off of the staff members who facilitated the Intensive Therapeutic Community (ITC), as well as those who gave instruction to prison residents seeking their GED.

ITC is a yearlong, peer-based program for ending substance abuse and criminal behavior.

Fr. Corel quickly recruited a group of outside volunteers to keep the programs running.

“I was amazed and inspired by the people who were brave enough to take that journey and answer that call, especially on such short notice,” he said.

Many of them still serve as prison volunteers.

 

“Ambassador in chains”

Fr. Corel will soon begin a two-month sabbatical in Chicago to prepare for his new assignment.

He will be living in community with Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood who are part of the Ministry for Reconciliation in the Chicago archdiocese.

“They do a lot with families of people who are incarcerated, as well as visiting the incarcerated and working with youth so that they turn away from a life of crime and become productive members of society,” he said. “I’m interested in finding out how they’re doing that.”

He also plans to read about trends in Catholic ministry to the incarcerated, correspond with people involved in prison ministry in this diocese, and spend time with family and friends and in relaxation and prayer.

He asked for everyone to pray for this important ministry, learn about the Church’s understanding of reconciliation and restorative justice, and consider getting involved in ministry to the incarcerated as a volunteer at a jail or prison or in some supporting role.

He called upon the intercession of St. Dismas, the good thief who was crucified with Jesus, and St. Paul, the great evangelizer who was imprisoned and persecuted for preaching the hard message of the Gospel.

“If we do this ministry right, there will be persecutions,” Fr. Corel said.

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