Pope Francis embraces a prisoner while meeting with inmates at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, September 27, 2015 (Reuters)

As the Vicar of Christ on earth currently (Christ said in the bible that he came to the world to save the lost sheep), Pope Francis today visited Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility (prison) in Philadelphia, as part of the last leg of his US tour. It was a form of seeking to convert those on the other side of morality/law

According to Reuters, after encouraging a group of prisoners to get their lives back on track, Pope Francis walked through the gym at Philadelphia’s largest jail and shook the hands of each of the men and women individually. The 100 inmates in blue uniforms remained in their seats Sunday until two stood up near the end to hug Francis. He also blessed an inmate in a wheelchair.

Francis thanked the inmates at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility for the large wooden chair that they made for him, calling it beautiful. He has criticized prison systems that only work to punish and humiliate prisoners, and he has denounced life prison terms and isolation as a form of torture.

His remarks in the gym of the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility were being broadcast Sunday to the prison’s other 3,000 inmates. A Philadelphia Archdiocese priest had been jailed there for his handling of priest sexual-abuse complaints, but Monsignor William Lynn was moved to a state prison in northeastern Pennsylvania shortly after the pope’s itinerary was announced.
Francis will also meet with members of some prisoners’ families and with corrections officers.