Inmates complete prison’s new Catholic chapel in 38 days

by mark h. hunter
Special to The Advocate
February 22, 2014

ANGOLA - The inmates affectionately call it “The Alamo.” The bishop calls it a blessing. And nearly everyone who visits Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel declares it amazing and beautiful.

The chapel, located inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary’s Main Camp, was built by volunteer inmates, who worked in 12-hour shifts around the clock and completed it in 38 days.

Designed in the Colonial Spanish Mission style to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe, the chapel’s stucco front façade resembles the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, and many other Catholic edifices from the American Southwest to South America.

At a Mass of Dedication on Dec. 12, Bishop Robert W. Muench, of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of the Americas. Hundreds of inmates, visitors, officials and even a mariachi band packed into the 6,000 square-foot, steel-framed building that features paintings, stained-glass windows and furniture, all crafted by inmates.

http://theadvocate.com/features/faith/8402847-123/inmates-complete-prisons-new-catholic