Sacramento, USA - James Russell Tramel, a convicted murderer who has been behind bars for nearly two decades, has been ordained an Episcopal priest.
The extraordinary ceremony in California State Prison, Solano, was the first of its kind inside a prison in California and possibly the country, said the Right Rev. William Swing, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California.
With his parents, fellow inmates and other clergy members from Sacramento and the Bay Area gathered around him Saturday in a courtyard off of the Vacaville prison's visiting room, Tramel recited his vows and received the ceremonial vestment worn by Episcopal priests.
Then, using grape soda and a croissant from a prison vending machine, he administered Holy Communion, which Episcopalians believe is the body and blood of Christ. A paper cup served as a chalice. A small table served as an altar.
Swing, who performed the ordination, said the event had significance far beyond the ceremony.
"It was quite a symbol of hope," Swing said.
"It meant that the connection between faith and prison is alive. It meant a bishop's stole goes to a new generation of priests. It meant a witness of staggering hope to prisoners who were onlookers. It meant that resurrection is not just for the afterlife, but here and now," he said.
Efforts to reach Tramel directly were unsuccessful Monday, but in a press release issued by the diocese, he said the ordination made him feel as though "my whole life was coming into focus. It felt like I was right where I was supposed to be."
Tramel, 37, was convicted in Santa Barbara in 1986 in the stabbing death of a homeless man, Michael Stephenson. He and David Kurtzman, who wielded the weapon, received identical sentences of 15 years to life for second-degree murder.
The California Board of Prison Terms granted Tramel a March parole date, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reversed the panel's decision.
Among those who have voiced their opposition in the past to Tramel being paroled are the murder victim's father and siblings, who have described the crime as a "thrill killing" committed by cowards.
Swing said Tramel has "invested himself in another way of life," and intends to pursue parole again.
"He has proved himself," the bishop said.
In the meantime, Tramel will minister to fellow inmates.
The Bee told Tramel's story for the first time in a front page story in July 2000.
He began working toward becoming a priest while counseling dying inmates in the California Correctional Medical Facility in Vacaville. In 1998, he became the first inmate accepted at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, where he earned a master's degree in theological studies through a distance learning program.
He earned top grades, passed various psychological tests and demonstrated a genuine desire to help others throughout his years as a seminarian, said Swing. From behind bars, he counseled young troublemakers, kept vigil with sick prisoners and prepared audiotapes for blind people. He corresponded with church leaders through letters, over the phone and in the prison visiting room. He began an Episcopal congregation at the prison.
Swing ordained Tramel as a deacon on July 4. Becoming a priest allows him to consecrate the Eucharist inside the prison. In the past, when no priest was available to conduct services, the congregation would have Communion or Eucharist with bread that had been consecrated at a church outside the prison.
After Tramel took the vows of priesthood Saturday, he kneeled on the ground and the bishop laid his hands on his head. Other clergy members did the same. Then, Swing said, he removed his red stole and gave it to Tramel.
The bishop said he was particularly moved by watching the emotion on the faces of Tramel's family members during the ordination.
"To see a son who was the focus of so much heartbreak administer the Eucharist to his parents was wonderful," he said. "After the service, people lined up and got down on their knees to receive blessings from the new priest. No one who was there is going to forget it for a very long time."
The ceremony took place as hundreds of inmates mingled with relatives in the nearby visiting room, said the Rev. James Richardson, associate dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Sacramento. Richardson was one of more than two dozen people who witnessed the ordination.
"We were in the barest of places. I had an overwhelming sense that God finds a way, that God opens doors wherever they are," Richardson said.
"While I do wish that his parole had gone forward, ultimately I think this was the ideal place to ordain James Tramel. It is where he grew up in a sense, where he was raised up, where God found him."