Text: Dr Chijioke Nwalozie gives 2023 Harold Hood Lecture

Dr Chijioke Nwalozie

Source: Pact

"When prisoners are poorly treated, the Church must act as a critical stakeholder and vanguard of prison reform."

Dr Chijioke Nwalozie, from De Montfort University gave this year's Harold Hood lecture on Wednesday, 24 May at Maria Fidelis Catholic School, in Euston, central London.

In his address, Dr Nwalozie set out the crucial role that the Church has in prison reform and in addressing many of the issues that face the criminal justice system today, concluding that "the Church must speak out wherever the prisoner's plight is reduced to inhuman conditions."

He spoke about how faith can both support people in prison through their sentence and help them to make a fresh start on release. He set out the life-changing value that prison chaplaincy offers people in prison, lending a listening ear and providing the opportunity to talk to someone who does not judge them.

Earlier in the evening, attendees heard from the fantastic Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir and from Laura Manders, Pact's Service User Voice Manager, who gave a personal reflection on the criminal justice system and her own positive encounter with a prison chaplain that impacted her journey.

The Harold Hood Lecture is hosted every year by the Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) to celebrate the life and memory of the late Sir Harold Hood - a devout Catholic and a generous philanthropist with a keen interest in prison reform. The lecture seeks to contribute to public knowledge and understanding of how we can make prisons places in which individuals can change and grow.

Click here to read the full text of Dr Nwalozie's speech:
www.prisonadvice.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=19a9b10d-351b-4e81-918c-ddca7c615173