This work is not about a theory of criminology, of which there are already many, nor a history of rehabilitation or of the prison, also many. My work looks at the terrain where crime, history, human and organizational behavior, and Catholicism walk along paths-through the criminal city-we cannot readily perceive, but within which I see a deep rubric of transformation, redemption, the prodigal son, and urban contemplative spiritual warriors, enriched by Catholic teaching.