Having entered the season of Lent last week, many Christians are taking up the challenge and opportunity of a deepened prayer life to cultivate the awareness of God’s presence in our lives. In one LA correctional facility, seminarian Karri Backer, is leading Ignatian Spirituality groups in the midst of a most distracting and challenging context.
Seminarian Brings Ignatian Spirituality to Inmates
By Claudia Pearce
Karri Backer’s path to the priesthood has not been direct or traditional. She was a high-school dropout who disliked and distrusted organized religion. She now has college degrees from UCLA and Antioch University and is working on a third, a master’s in divinity from Claremont School of Theology’s joint program with Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont.
A social worker who found her way back to the church, she enrolled in Claremont after her home church, St. Mark’s, Upland, Calif., encouraged her to become a priest when she was considering the diaconate.
Perhaps it’s not surprising that her internship at Claremont School of Theology is also non-traditional.
For two years now, Backer has been leading contemplative prayer groups for men in Tower Two of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles, which houses the most severe offenders.