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Deacon Rob found himself called to serve the Lord by working as the lead Roman Catholic Chaplain in HMP Wandsworth Prison.

I first visited the Prison on went to work at in August 2024. Did I want to go initially? No! Am I glad I went? Yes, most definitely! The only previous contact I had with prisons was when our parish priest suggested that I might like to join him for Holy Mass at HMP Coldingley. However, several years later I experienced a calling to the diaconate, I tried to ignore it for two years, but eventually I went through diaconate formation, being ordained in July 2012.

When I finally ended up as lead RC chaplain in HMP Wandsworth, after the initial three years, post ordination in the parish of St Hugh of Lincoln, Knaphill, I realised the full impact of my calling from God to be a deacon. I felt totally challenged, and completely out of my depth. However, over a period of five and a half years all that changed, I now believe I am incredibly blessed to have had that life-changing experience.

It was all about being a servant of Christ, e.g. Diakonia. I was helped by a Jesuit priest Fr Paul O’Reilly who quoted 2 Corinthians 12: 7-9:

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"…..But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power id made perfect in weakness.'"

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It was nothing to do with my skills or talents, it was about me listening, and talking to the men about Christ Jesus. It’s all about remaining open to the love of Christ Jesus, and actively sharing it with others.

There were 1,800 men in HMP Wandsworth when I first joined the chaplaincy team, with 500 being registered as Catholic. We would have 200 men attend Holy Mass on a Sunday afternoon.

It is an official figure that approximately 90% of the men in HMP Wandsworth were there with mental health issues. Not all criminals as society would have you believe, they were no different from myself, and I would often wonder – why are you in the cell, and not me?

Finally – some wisdom from a permanent deacon of 25 years in South America, Dcn Frank & his wife, Mary Chavez, who have been married for 50 years:

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“We [deacons] take grace from the altar to the streets, and the needs from the streets, to the altar. We are the living sacramental sign of Christ in the world”.