Chicago’s new archbishop and the city’s best known civil rights leader each had Christmas Day messages of hope for inmates at the Cook County Jail.
Archbishop Blase Cupich and the Rev. Jesse Jackson led separate services at the jail Thursday.
Cupich led a morning Christmas mass attended by nearly 150 inmates. He spoke in English and Spanish during the service and stressed the importance of living with a focus of caring for others.
Jackson encouraged more than 200 male and female inmates to prepare for the future and not make jail their “permanent home.”
Cupich replaced Cardinal Francis George last month as the spiritual leader of more than 2 million Catholics.
Jackson has regularly delivered Christmas Day sermons at the jail.