Archbishop Paul Cremona yesterday visited the Correctional Facility in Kordin where he met Maltese and foreign inmates on an individual basis.

The Archbishop was accompanied by pastoral secretary Fr Charles Cordina and Mr Sandro Gatt, the director of the CCF.

Mr Gatt told Mgr Cremona that a total of 398 people – 298 Maltese and 100 foreigners – are currently held at the facility. There are also 16 women.

The Archbishop’s message to the inmates was simple: there are occasions in life that one is not proud of and he hoped that their stay at the facility would be used to help them start a new chapter in life.

Mgr Cremona toured the facility and visited the facility’s chapel, the kitchen and the bakery.

Also present during the three-hour visit were members of the visitors board, the Father Provincial of the Capucchin Order, Fr Joe Alessandro, the facility’s chaplain Fr Franco Farrugia and Fr Mark Montebello, director of the group Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl.

In a brief comment to the media outside the CCF, the Archbishop said he had met people whom the Lord wanted to meet.

“This is a period in their life in which they can close a chapter on their past. I tried to pass on a message of hope,” the Archbishop said.

He also spoke about the difficulties faced by the staff at the facility and the inmates there.