The bags, made by women prison inmates in cooperation with a social cooperative, are one of the products resulting from a vocational training course aimed at restoring dignity and helping the women prepare for reintegration into work and society.
The prisoners involved are given the opportunity to acquire technical and professional skills, allowing them to work, earn a regular salary, and, most importantly, rebuild awareness and self-worth, while the bags will be available for purchase at the official Jubilee info point in Rome.
Each tote will feature there the name of the Dicastery for Evangelization and materials used
include fabrics and objects recycled from items created for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2016.
This initiative is one of the "Signs of Hope" initiatives dedicated to the vulnerable marginalized, as called for by Pope Francis in the Jubilee Bull Spes non Confundit.
And signalling his closeness to the incarcerated, the Pope will exceptionally open a Holy Door at the Rebibbia prison in Rome on December 26, so – as he says in that Bull - “It may be for them a symbol that invites them to look to the future with hope and a renewed commitment to life."