Extension Magazine - Fall 2021
In 1978, St. Pope John Paul II said, " Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ!" His words echo in our ears today as churches across the country have literally reopened their doors after many months of restrictions. The Catholic Church's mission to serve, to heal and to reach people's hears in Christ's name has never shut down, as is revealed in the accomplishments of our 2021 Lumen Christi Award finalists- such as Racheal Jacoby, who recently restored ST. Francis Xavier Mission in Melvin, Texas.
In 1978, St. Pope John Paul II said, " Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ!" His words echo in our ears today as churches across the country have literally reopened their doors after many months of restrictions. The Catholic Church's mission to serve, to heal and to reach people's hears in Christ's name has never shut down, as is revealed in the accomplishments of our 2021 Lumen Christi Award finalists- such as Racheal Jacoby, who recently restored ST. Francis Xavier Mission in Melvin, Texas.
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34 INSPIRE<br />
Lumen Christi Past Finalist<br />
A<br />
former finalist<br />
for the Lumen<br />
Christi<br />
Award used her<br />
life-changing experience<br />
in a<br />
Catholic <strong>Extension</strong> prison ministry<br />
program to help her advocate for<br />
a powerful new restorative justice<br />
law in North Dakota.<br />
Sister Kathleen Atkinson, a finalist<br />
for the award in 2015, is a<br />
Benedictine Sister from Annunciation<br />
Monastery in the Diocese of<br />
Bismarck. She is the founder and<br />
director of Ministry on the Margins,<br />
a volunteer-based organization that<br />
provides recently incarcerated people<br />
with compassionate guidance<br />
and the tools to reenter society.<br />
Along with a food pantry, street<br />
outreach, and emergency sheltering,<br />
the ministry is involved with<br />
spiritual groups in state penitentiaries<br />
and support groups.<br />
But it was another experience<br />
that cemented Sister Kathleen’s<br />
staunch belief in the power of restorative<br />
justice. She had recently<br />
participated in Catholic <strong>Extension</strong>’s<br />
Restorative Justice Ministry Certification<br />
program. What she learned<br />
helped her expand her own ministry<br />
in the Diocese of Bismarck. It<br />
also served as the foundation for<br />
her testimony in favor of a new restorative<br />
justice law.<br />
Advocating for<br />
restorative justice<br />
EXTENSION PROGRAM HELPS CATHOLIC SISTER<br />
TESTIFY IN FAVOR OF NORTH DAKOTA LAW<br />
WHAT IS RESTORATIVE JUSTICE?<br />
Restorative justice is an approach<br />
to the justice system<br />
founded in Christian values. It<br />
views crime as an action that<br />
causes harm to people, relationships<br />
and the community. This<br />
method seeks to repair that damage<br />
through reconciliation. Restorative<br />
justice professionals help<br />
criminal offenders make amends<br />
with the people they have hurt.<br />
In 2018 Sister Kathleen was invited<br />
to participate in the Restorative<br />
Justice Ministry Certification<br />
program at Loyola University Chicago’s<br />
Institute of Pastoral Studies,<br />
funded by Catholic <strong>Extension</strong>.<br />
This immersive program teaches<br />
participants how to expand or create<br />
restorative justice prison ministries.<br />
Sister Kathleen received theological<br />
and legal training. She<br />
learned from mental health professionals<br />
and on-the-ground organizations<br />
that work to lift up the<br />
mind, body and spirit of incarcerated<br />
individuals, their families<br />
and victims of crimes.<br />
Upon returning to North Dakota,<br />
she used her new training<br />
and experiences to bolster the impact<br />
of Ministry on the Margins.<br />
She added support groups for people<br />
reentering society after prison<br />
and partnered with Free Through<br />
Recovery, a state-sponsored community<br />
health program that helps<br />
people on probation or parole with<br />
behavioral health problems.<br />
She also encouraged Catholic<br />
parishes and schools to volunteer<br />
and engage in service projects with<br />
the ministry.<br />
TRAINING INFORMS RESTORATIVE<br />
JUSTICE TESTIMONY<br />
North Dakota House Bill 1393<br />
was introduced in <strong>2021</strong> by a bipartisan<br />
team of sponsors. The bill
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