On Christmas when people raise their eyes to the sky, children expect the sled of Santa Claus to pass through the dark clouds. But sometimes in his hurry the good old man does not visit some children. Then good people help him in his job and put gifts under the Christmas tree.

This year nearly a thousand children of people convicted of crimes will be expecting Santa Claus to visit them in the holy night. In order to send gifts on behalf of imprisoned parents, the Angel Christmas Tree project of "PF Bulgaria - Community for Conciliatory Justice" relies on donations from compassionate people. It is indescribable joy as we are preserving the sacred bond between children and parents that we have no right to destroy, as children of prisoners are not convicted, but they suffer even more than their parents, Priest Nikolay Georgiev, chairman of the organization says. With regret, he adds that the hearts of such children are often filled with fright, hostility, and anger because of the bad words they hear about their mothers or fathers.

“Society has no right to punish the children of prisoners,” the priest says. “Today's prisoner will be our neighbour tomorrow and his children are among us - and if they do not have a parent to teach them righteousness, why cannot we do it? All that is needed is offer them a helping hand without malice, so that these innocent children become the bridge on which parents will return as ex-offenders will serve as an example. But when they feel isolated and devastated, they start moving on the path of their parents."

In prison there are not many people to take care of prisoners’ souls. In 25 places of detention there are only 4 chaplains, while the state’s obligation to take care for the personal transformation of prisoners remains just on paper.

“The state has two main objectives when punishing crime - imprisonment and re-education,” Priest Nikolay says. “Unfortunately, in Bulgaria the focus is put on imprisonment and that is why prisons have started to look like storage houses for people instead of places for rehabilitation. Imprisonment without change seems like revenge,” the priest adds. “The state cannot give vengeance, but its role in the process should be precisely rehabilitation. The isolation of criminals is just one side of measures. But it is equally important that these people realize what they did and become able to return to our society and be competitive on the labour market. This can be done only through faith.”

Therefore, volunteers tell prisoners about the gospels.

“The Journey of the Prisoner Program aims to make inmates familiar with the life of a prisoner like themselves - persecuted, slandered, sentenced to death and executed. On top of that this prisoner was innocent. He knows how they feel in moments of loneliness, suffering, and isolation and offers them the way to salvation,” the priest says. “The path inevitably passes through repentance and reconciliation and whoever manages to walk this road will have a chance to be born for a new life.”

And since we are waiting for Christmas, what is the Christmas miracle we should dream of – both for the people who did sin, and those at the beginning of the path to forgiveness and tolerance?

“Of course, we should dream of reconciliation,” priest Nikolay says. “Let the love of Christ erase sin and remove from the hearts of prisoners the desire for new crimes and give them patience to bear their punishment, as well as understanding about the reasons they were punished for. Society should give them a helping hand; forgive them in order to be one again. Christmas is possible in prison because the Christ's birth is actually a gift for the bad ones. The good ones receive other presents.”

English: Alexander Markov