Fr. Frank Tinajero, SVD

“I was in prison and you visited me.”

This directive from Jesus, found in the Gospel of Matthew, 25:35, reflects the ministry of Fr. Frank Tinajero, SVD. Born and raised in East Los Angeles, California, he is the youngest of five children. Fr. Frank began his priestly vocation with the L.A. Archdiocese while attending college in 1977-78. After his decision to become an SVD, he joined the residence program at Casa Guadalupe, a seminary formation house. Fr. Frank went on to the novitiate at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. He spent his Cross-cultural Training Program in Bolivia and Paraguay and was ordained in 1988. His first assignment was Lady of Loretta Parish in L.A. After that he served as Vocational Director at Casa Guadalupe for two years, then went on to a year of spiritual studies at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. Fr. Frank has been exclusively involved in prison ministry since 1994.

“I urge young men to consider prison ministry,” says Fr. Frank Tinajero, SVD. “It touches your life in a very special way and touches other lives profoundly.”

Fr. Frank should know. “I have been tasked with the privilege of bringing hope to a people who have forgotten their true and original identities of being beautiful children of God,” he says. Since 1994, he has been involved in detention ministry with the Federal Bureau of Prisons – spending three years at Terminal Island in Los Angeles, California, four years at Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado, and five years at the Federal Prison Camp in Nellis, Nevada. Currently he serves at the Federal Correction Complex in Lompoc, California. “Prisons are a paradox,” Fr. Frank adds. “In them, you will find the best and worst of humanity. Yet the spirit of God is powerful in the midst of chaos.”

A native of East Los Angeles, Fr. Frank began his vocation to the priesthood with the L.A. Archdiocese while attending college in 1977-78. After he decided to become a Divine Word Missionary; he entered SVD formation at Casa Guadalupe, also in L.A. While in formation, Fr. Frank served in detention centers and juvenile halls. “This sparked my interest in detention ministry,” he explains.

When Fr. Frank went to the novitiate at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, he visited inmates at the county jail as part of his ministry work. At Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, he was active in different parish ministries and then spent his Cross-cultural Training Program in Bolivia and Paraguay. Ordained in 1988, Fr. Frank’s first assignment was Lady of Loretta Parish in L.A., where prison ministry soon became a part of his duties. “While I was there,” says Fr. Frank, “the warden from the Metropolitan Detention Center in L.A. contacted me, looking for a priest to offer Sunday masses.” He went on to serve as the last Vocation Director of Casa Guadalupe from 1992 until it closed in 1993. Following a year of spirituality studies at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, Fr. Frank officially began his detention ministry with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in 1994.

He is currently the supervising chaplain at the Federal Correction Complex in Lompoc, California. “There are four of us,” he explains. “We have one Muslim chaplain, two Protestant chaplains and me.” All four chaplains have their offices within the prison and minister five days a week to four prison systems – low, medium and high security detention centers and prison camps. Fr. Frank coordinates and schedules the various religious services and obtains supplies needed for them. Though much of his work right now is administrative, he says, “I play priest on the weekends. I offer Mass at four different prison institutions and I counsel prisoners in both segregated housing units and in office visits.”

“Statistically, prisons are much like the rest of society,” says Fr. Frank. “Not all prisoners have 'found God' or attend church services.” But for those who do find faith, he asserts, “Lives are changed. The love and spirit of God can be very powerful.” At the Federal Correction Complex where he ministers, Fr. Frank explains that “we have beautiful liturgies, with inmate choirs and visits from the Bishop of the Archdiocese. We have baptisms and confirmations. In fact, our organ player was a member of the N.Y. City Philharmonic Orchestra.”

As a member of the American Catholic Correctional Chaplains’ Association, Fr. Frank is committed to working for “restorative justice,” embodying the concept of having the criminal give back, in kind, to the community that he (she) has wronged. Restorative justice is bible-based and views crime as affecting victims, offenders, their families and the community. Fr. Frank feels that some people may happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or become naïve parties to crime. He adds that mandatory sentencing laws for first offenders have now changed for the better. “Judges have more leeway in sentencing to fit the offense and the offender.”

Other prisoners, however, may seem almost an incarnation of evil. “These are the criminally insane,” says Fr. Frank. “I do not believe, of course, in capital punishment, but society must be protected from these particular inmates.” And though his four years at the Supermax Prison in Colorado were draining at times, Fr. Frank says, “We are used by Christ to imbue mercy and forgiveness.”

Fr. Frank believes that “other faiths are beating down the door of prison ministry.” He adds, “As Catholics, we sometimes seem to overlook this part of society. If we do not actually visit or participate in prison ministry, we should at least be aware – and express our awareness in tangible forms. We need to fight for better alternatives besides warehousing people and be more creative with our use of monies.”

Reflecting on the challenges that he has experienced within his ministry, Fr. Frank says, “The judgment of society is extreme, harsh and sometimes irrevocable. While I was at Supermax in Colorado, one of the prisoners died and I had to notify his mother. She told me that her son had already died, to her, a long time ago.” Yet there is always reason for hope. “Another prisoner had murdered several people in his youth and served many years in prison,” says Fr. Frank. “Over time, this man grew in character and virtue. He saved the lives of the warden and staff and was pardoned by the President of the United States.” Fr. Frank adds that “this man is now an artist and still checks up on how his old “roommates” are doing.”

Summing up nearly a decade and a half of his life in detention ministry, Fr. Frank says, “These years have been very rewarding for me. I have been able to find hope and to experience the light shining brightly in people’s lives, despite the darkness and chaos found in the shadows.”