EXCLUSIVE: Christmas cancelled as chaplains shortage hits prison Masses during festive season

A shortage of prison chaplains across England and Wales means that many prisoners will not be able to attend Mass on Christmas Day.

South Wales is particularly hard hit, with no Christmas Day Mass at two prisons and the Archbishop of Cardiff having to celebrate Mass at the city’s three prisons over Christmas.

There are currently 45 full-time chaplains serving 142 prisons, with a further mix of 25 priests, deacons and Religious serving as “half-time” chaplains and more – including laity – assisting in a part-time role.

According to the Ministry of Justice, there are currently 26 vacancies for chaplains across England and Wales: nine full-time, three half-time and 14 part-time roles.

Catholics make up 18 per cent of the total prison population. Around 15,000 out of the 85,000 prisoners in England and Wales identify as Catholic. Fr Patrick Cope, senior Catholic chaplain at the Ministry of Justice, said one of the reasons prisons struggle to recruit chaplains is because the majority of prisons are in rural areas.

Fr Cope said: “There is certainly a number of vacancies at the moment and definitely a need for more chaplains.” He said prison chaplains had a particularly important role to play around Christmas, which was one of the most difficult times for prisoners.

However, the shortage of Catholic chaplains means that some will have to wait until after Christmas to celebrate Mass. In Dorset, neither HMP Portland nor the Verne Immigration Removal Centre will have Mass on Christmas Day. Usk Prison in Cardiff will not have Mass until New Year’s Day while Parc Prison in Bridgend will celebrate Mass on Christmas Eve.

As neither prison has a priest serving as chaplain, on Christmas Day they will have a Celebration of the Word and Communion. The Archbishop of Cardiff, George Stack, said: “The whole thing is very moving. Christmas in prison can be very lonely and sad at times.”

Mgr Roger Reader, the Catholic bishops’ prisons adviser, said a large part of the role is to be ­ “a listening ear” and provide ­pastoral and spiritual support to prisoners and staff. He said that as a result of the shortage, the bishops’ conference was turning to laypeople to fill vacancies.