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CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou, in Latest ‘Letter from Loretto,’ Describes Work in Prison Chapel
Former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou, who is currently in the middle of serving a thirty-month prison sentence at the federal correctional institution of Loretto, Pennsylvania, has written another “Letter from Loretto.” And, in this letter, he shares what it has been like to work in the prison’s chapel:
snippet:
Kiriakou writes in this letter about the history of FCI Loretto, which used to be a Catholic monastery. The Bureau of Prisons turned it into a “low-security prison” and converted the “monks’ bedrooms” into “prisoners’ rooms.”
“I’m an orderly in the chapel,” Kiriakou shares. “On Tuesday mornings, all 19 chapel employees vacuum, dust and polish the chapel, the auxiliary worship room and the offices. Otherwise, my job is to provide prisoners with books and religious videos from the library.”
He continues, “I work eight hours a week and make $3.23 a month. I do this job, though, because I enjoy the solace and the ability to sit at one of the prison’s very few desks and write in peace.”
Kiriakou provides an overview of some of the religions he has come to learn more about during his time working in the chapel, some which he did not really know existed. He highlights a “tax cheat” who wrote his own bible “by taking out the parts of the real bible” that he didn’t like and then created his own cult. He started “baptizing” people in the bathroom and happens to have several followers. He even told a pastor that visited the prison that he would go to hell if he didn’t join his group, which the prison doesn’t recognize as a legitimate faith group.
“I’m an orderly in the chapel,” Kiriakou shares. “On Tuesday mornings, all 19 chapel employees vacuum, dust and polish the chapel, the auxiliary worship room and the offices. Otherwise, my job is to provide prisoners with books and religious videos from the library.”
He continues, “I work eight hours a week and make $3.23 a month. I do this job, though, because I enjoy the solace and the ability to sit at one of the prison’s very few desks and write in peace.”
Kiriakou provides an overview of some of the religions he has come to learn more about during his time working in the chapel, some which he did not really know existed. He highlights a “tax cheat” who wrote his own bible “by taking out the parts of the real bible” that he didn’t like and then created his own cult. He started “baptizing” people in the bathroom and happens to have several followers. He even told a pastor that visited the prison that he would go to hell if he didn’t join his group, which the prison doesn’t recognize as a legitimate faith group.
more (odd but so interesting):
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2014/04/09/cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakou-in-latest-letter-from-loretto-describes-work-in-prison-chapel/#comments
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2014/01/27/bureau-of-prisons-considers-cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakous-letters-from-loretto-to-be-dangerous/
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/tag/letter-from-loretto/