Mission Statement

Jesuit Restorative Justice Initiative (JRJI) is a pastoral ministry of restorative justice that strives to heal broken relationships with those who are incarcerated and their families, as well as victims of crime and their families, through prayer, education, and advocacy.

JRJI mobilizes constituencies to advocate for the transformation of the justice system to become more restorative than punitive.

JRJI NEWS

Pope Francis | April 21, 2025

Dear Friends of JRJI:

 

We here at JRJI are deeply grateful for how Pope Francis had committed himself to living out the Gospel, and for how he led changes in structures for those behind prison walls all over the world. 

 

We are so grateful that Pope Francis would often put his own body inside of those prison walls in order to visit our brothers and sisters living within them. His actions corresponded to the words he faithfully announced and preached. 

 

He will be greatly missed. 

 

May he rest in peace.

 

Sincerely, 

Fr. Michael Kennedy, SJ

JRJI Executive Director

 

We share the letters Pope Francis wrote to Fr. Michael Kennedy, SJ in 2013 and 2014 after receiving his letter and letters from the youth at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, CA. In 2016, Pope Francis also wrote a letter to Carlos, a JRJI participant in juvenile hall. 

This Week's Wisdom from the Cells

HEARTS OF STONE TO HEARTS OF FLESH

Compiled by Ismael Mejia

SYNOPSIS

No one is beyond God’s reach. No heart is too hardened for His love.

The men in this book once lived lives defined by violence, survival, and the pursuit of power. Their choices, shaped by pain and brokenness, led them deep into the world of gangs, crime, and prison. They seemed lost, unreachable. But God saw them differently.

Through thirteen powerful testimonies, Hearts of Stone to Hearts of Flesh tells the stories of men who encountered radical transformation in prison—not by their own strength, but through God’s relentless mercy. He met them in the darkest places, breaking through their hardened hearts and replacing them with something new: hearts that love, hearts that serve, hearts that beat with the steady rhythm of grace.

This book is more than a collection of testimonies—it’s an invitation. An invitation to witness the miracle of redemption and to believe that no matter how far someone has fallen, God can make all things new. For readers of true stories of faith, second chances, and God’s transforming power, this book is a testament that grace is real—and it changes everything.

The testimonies in this book are written by our participants. The book is available at Amazon.com in paperback and kindle format.

Print length: 60 pages

Purchase Book

We share the poem “Freedom” written by Collin Price, SJ. 

Retreats we have visited in the past few months this year:

  • February 2nd-3rd

    California State Prison (LAC) in Lancaster, CA

  • February 10th-11th

    California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, CA

  • February 24th-24th

    California State Prison (LAC) in Lancaster, CA

  • March 5th-Ash Wednesday Service

    California State Prison. (LAC)- Lancaster, CA

  • March 10th-11th

    California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, CA

  • April 6th-7th

    California State Prison (LAC) in Lancaster, CA

Upcoming JRJI retreats will include the following:

  • April 14th-15th

    California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, CA

  • April 17th- Holy Thursday

    California State Prison (LAC) in Lancaster, CA

  • April 28th-29th

    Calipatria State Prison in Calipatria, CA

  • May 4th-5th

    California State Prison (LAC) in Lancaster, CA

  • May 12th-13th

    California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, CA

  • May 19th-21st

    California State Prison (LAC) in Lancaster, CA

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