Cardinal Timothy Dolan celebrated a noon Mass at Ignacio House in East Harlem on Wednesday, July 31, the Feast Day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the site’s patron saint. He told the faithful that the site offers “a loving, tender, embracing home – how grateful all of us are.”

The Ignacio House of Studies is a transitional housing project for formerly incarcerated men pursuing degrees in higher education. It was opened in the Bronx in 2019 by the Thrive for Life Prison Project and was later relocated to its present, larger facility on East 103rd Street, with support and collaboration from the Archdiocese of New York.

Michael Patrick Kelly, 65, was among the Ignacio House residents who attended the special outdoor Mass. He was released from prison last November after serving 39 years for murder.

“To adjust to the real world after time incarcerated, you need to have spiritual strength – and you get that from the cardinal, benefactors, all the way down to the staff themselves,” a very grateful Kelly told The Good Newsroom after the Mass, later holding back tears toward the end of the interview inside his living unit. “I now openly tell people my family is Thrive for Life.”

Born and raised in Utica, Kelly added, “They embraced me. … You have people that will let you cry on their shoulder because of your loneliness. Coming out of prison, you can’t land in a better place than in the arms of Jesus.” He said he reached those arms through Thrive for Life. Kelly noted he first met Cardinal Dolan in 2015 during one of the cardinal’s prison visits. Now, while working a part-time job, he is pursuing a college degree that would lead to a career in social justice reform.

Cardinal Dolan, in his homily, said he was “honored and grateful to be with all of you here at Ignacio House on, providentially, this feast of the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola. Thank you very much for the invitation. … You know, I trust by now, how grateful I am for the charism of Thrive for Life, and their instructive, innovative, magnificent, and substantive outreach.”

The cardinal mentioned the importance of St. Ignatius’ intellectual life, teachings, and missionary works. He also spoke of the significance of setting goals and seeking to achieve those goals – such as the educational and career goals of Ignacio House residents.

“St. Ignatius of Loyola was bigtime into goals,” Cardinal Dolan asserted, noting the saint’s most important goal was eternal life with God by making life choices that would help him achieve that goal. “He called it his first principle and foundation.”

The Mass, attended by several dozen people, was held on the lower roof behind the building, with three white canopies protecting the clergy and the faithful from the hot sun.

Thrive for Life was founded in 2017 by Father Zach Presutti, S.J., offering reflective and meditative resources and services in six correctional facilities throughout the New York metropolitan area. Father Presutti gave closing remarks of joy and gratitude after the Mass. He was among the concelebrants, as was Father Enrique Salvo, rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Cardinal Dolan thanked Father Presutti for his leadership, and he gratefully acknowledged the presence of program benefactors, workers, and residents, as well as Father Presutti’s parents.