Prisoners build Europe's largest living nativity scene in Portugal

Inmates from the Estabelecimento Prisional de Braga work in freedom to build the Presépio ao Vivo de Priscos, a large-scale living nativity scene in Portugal.

Since 2015, the project has employed prisoners under an open regime who travel by bus to the site to perform various manual tasks. The initiative aims to provide incarcerated people with job skills and a path toward social reintegration. The prisoners perform roles in carpentry, gardening, blacksmithing, maintenance, and construction.

They earn 3.10 euros per hour, which totals 24.79 euros per day, and receive meals provided by a private company. The Paróquia de São Tiago de Priscos covers all associated costs. The Direção-Geral de Reinserção e Serviços Prisionais explains that these participants are under an open regime for the exterior, which the Tribunal de Execução de Penas approves.

João Torres, the parish priest of Priscos and chaplain at the Braga prison, says the project uses trust and work to break the cycle of crime. In addition to manual labor, the inmates receive humanistic training from former journalist Mário Robalo to help them reflect on their pasts and future goals. The Municipality of Braga provides the transportation for the workers.