Challapalca prison in Peru is considered "hell on earth", where notorious prisoners are kept. People are afraid to go there, the guards must pay close attention. But Father Gigi Ginami, a priest working in Rome, visited and helped many prisoners convert and change their lives. The book "Angel" recounts the silent but also miraculous resurrections, thanks to the mission of Father Ginami.
For decades, Amnesty International has denounced the brutality and degradation of the Challapalca prison camp. The prison is isolated to forbid - certainly - any contact with the outside. The prison was built between 1996 and 1997 to house 240 of Peru's most dangerous prisoners: murderers, drug dealers, serial killers. The violence taking place here is immeasurable.
Challapalca . Hell
Challapalca Prison is a correctional center located in Tarata province, Tacna region, southern Peru. Located at an altitude of 4800 meters above sea level, Challapalca prison becomes the highest prison in South America. The feature of this prison is that it is located in an inhospitable area, located in the inaccessible mountain ranges, far from residential areas, with almost no communication and air conditions. harsh post. The living conditions at the prison are not worthy of humans. Drinking water is divided by portion; There is no heater even at night the temperature drops to minus 20 degrees and during the day it is only 5 degrees. This place is a real hell.
What is a Roman curia employee doing here?
But it was in that elevated prison camp that a young Italian priest, Father Gigi Ginami, who worked in the Roman Curia, periodically visited the prisoners (in the general bewilderment of the authorities, because hardly anyone dares to go up there, risking their lives among those isolated people and criminals). When Bishop Ciro Quispe Lopez, the local bishop, heard that a priest from Rome had come to this prison camp and wanted to keep going back there to meet the prisoners, he couldn't believe his ears. The bishop wondered: But what is an employee of the Roman Curia doing here, at such an altitude of 4,600 meters? This dangerous operation was narrated by Bishop Quispe Lopez and Father Gigi Ginami himself in a book named after one of the most dangerous prisoners held there: Angel, and also the protagonist of the exchange. shocking cabbage.
Bishop Quispe Lopez said: “The tension in Challapalca is at a very dangerous level. There are constant alerts every day. Many of the prisoners held there are serial killers or bosses of powerful gangs operating in cities like Lima, Callao, Chlayo, Truillo, Piura."
Silent revivals
Angelo's book has been well received by parishes in Italy and Father Gigi has used the proceeds to fund small humanitarian projects in the most terrible places on the planet, places where Father Gigi goes to bring a ray of hope. For example, in some areas of extreme poverty in Mexico, or in Africa, where the Islamic State group is growing, or in Iraq, wells are built for small communities.
Over the years, there are many stories of silent revivals, maybe just drops in the ocean, but always something very precious to those who have long since lost hope.
At the Vatican, where Father Gigi worked, he was initially seen as a bit of an outlier, but then he was active and concrete, so they let him continue his work. In return, the list of "reincarnated" people that Gigi's father has collected in unimaginable places over the past 10 years, has been recorded.
Mass at the prison at Challapaca
The final conversion took place in Challapaca, where a Mass was celebrated in the prison, in the hallway of the correctional camp, where the guards and inmates lived peacefully together for 60 minutes. That is a record. Bishop Quispe Lopez said the moment of peace was just as peaceful, as it was in a parish. “It gave me courage and I went to hug each prisoner and wish them peace,” the bishop said. Father Gigi had come and sat among the prisoners without worry or fear. I asked myself: What brought the priest from the Vatican to this place, with the most dangerous prisoners, abandoned human beings? I couldn't believe my eyes."
Father Gigi told the prisoners in Spanish: “Do not look back; look forward".
When the notorious prisoner confessed
Angel was also among these prisoners. He is one of the most feared prisoners in the prison. He committed dozens and dozens of murders and a network of corruption as far as Bolivia. Angel has been incarcerated in Challapalca prison since 2012. He asked Father Gigi to exonerate him. The guard never took his eyes off Angel, following orders to riot, never ceased to fear that he might harm the priest.
When he saw Angel's confession, even the guard knelt down in a corner of the cell and took off his mask. Father Gigi saw the killer's tears. Father said to him: “Angel, if you really want to be a new person and make amends for the crime you have committed, if you have money, use it for your victims, apologizing to them, living these years in prison and offering hardships to those he killed and tortured. After that, let's hug each other and say the Hail Mary."