” “The French prison chaplains from different religious confessions (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim) sent a joint message yesterday, in which they distance themselves from the security bill of law which would lay down stricter punishments, especially for habitual offenders. "We too are convinced write the chaplains that the fact "of re-punishing offenders who have finished paying society for their crimes raises a few problems". "It is also our job to patiently raise the offenders’ awareness of the sufferings they inflict on their victims". But they add "the stakes are too high for it to be considered a matter of urgency". "For us, the meaning of punishment lies in these terms: making a sentenced individual responsible for the management of his own punishment and starting, if needed, some medical treatment, educational work or even spiritual guidance if they want to". Therefore, the chaplains ask that the next penal act should include, in the part that concerns how to execute a punishment, the need and the actual possibility for the convicts to face their psychological or psychiatric problems with the help of specialists and to include rehabilitation measures for when they have expiated their faults. ” “
