Photos: Gang members on a quest for God, behind bars in El Salvador

Pastor Manuel Rivera's voice echoes through the crowded courtyard in the notorious San Francisco Gotera prison in El Salvador, as hardened criminals weep and bow their heads in prayer. Brutal 'mara' street gangs and chronic poverty have made El Salvador one of the most murderous countries on the planet, but the growth of evangelical Christianity behind bars is giving gangsters a way to break the spiral of violence. Rivera, an ex-hitman from the powerful Barrio 18 gang, speaks to rows of men with spidery black tattoos on their arms, necks and faces, delivering a message of salvation: God had rescued them from violence. Returning to gang life would mean death.

Updated on: Apr 21, 2018 12:15 PM IST

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Members of the Torre Fuerte (Strong Tower) church work inside a quarantine cell at the San Francisco Gotera prison, El Salvador. Brutal ‘mara’ street gangs and chronic poverty have made El Salvador one of the most murderous countries on the planet, but the growth of evangelical Christianity behind bars is giving gangsters a way to break the spiral of violence. (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)

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Inmates participate in a religious service at the San Francisco Gotera prison. Pastor Manuel Rivera’s voice echoed through the crowded courtyard in the notorious San Francisco Gotera prison as hardened criminals wept and bowed their heads in prayer. (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)

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Pastor Manuel Rivera, Head of the Torre Fuerte evangelical church was a hitman for the powerful Barrio 18 gang. Now, he speaks to rows of men with spidery black tattoos on their arms, necks and faces, delivering a message of salvation: God had rescued them from violence. Returning to gang life would mean death. (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)

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Some wept silently while he read from a bible. Others sang hymns, clapping and waving arms enthusiastically. They chorus: “Amen.” By embracing religion, these men can leave their gangs without retaliation, Rivera says. But if they do not show real devotion, former gang-mates may kill them, fearing they will join other gangs and become enemies. (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)

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Former members of the Barrio 18 gang take part in a carpentry workshop at the Torre Fuerte church inside the prison. “We used to say that the gang was our family, but God took the blindfold off our eyes,” says Rivera, 36, dressed like the other inmates in a white t-shirt, shorts and plastic sandals. (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)

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Evangelical Christianity has grown rapidly in Central America in the past decade, colouring local politics. Dozens of lawmakers embrace it, defending hardline positions against gay rights and abortion. The fervor has spilled into jails, where it is welcomed by officials who sense its potential for reforming ex-gangsters. (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)

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Inmate members of the Final Trompeta (The Final Trumpet) church learn how to cut hair. President Salvador Sanchez Ceren’s government plans to use Gotera as a model of religious rehabilitation it hopes can be replicated. Two years ago the prison, located about 166 km east of capital San Salvador, was almost entirely home to active gang members. (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)

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Members of the Final Trompeta church play ball at prison. Now, the majority of the approximately 1,500 inmates want to find redemption, says prison director Oscar Benavides. The conversions show that it is possible to rehabilitate those in the MS-13 or other gangs, says Security Minister Mauricio Ramirez, dismissing criticisms that the government should do more. (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)

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Luis Alfredo Alvarado Hernandez, had been a gang member since he was thirteen. God showed him in dreams that there was a heaven and hell, prompting him to leave this life for the love of his children. Outside the relative tranquillity of the prison, danger permeates. Despite crime falling from a record high in 2015, at 60 per 100,000 inhabitants, the murder rate is still one of the highest worldwide. (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)

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Inside Gotera, where some inmates are serving 100-year sentences for accumulated crimes, colourful drawings of angels and prophets decorate the walls alongside biblical quotations. Inmates wearing shirts emblazoned with “Soldier of Christ” and “Jesus Saved My Life” study prayer books, weave hammocks and tend to a garden. (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)

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Rodolfo Cornejo, 34, started praying and growing cucumbers when he entered the prison on a 12-year sentence for carrying firearms, wanting to leave the rough life that had isolated him from his kids. “People on the outside don’t trust us very much: they think we can’t change. But yes, we can show them.” (Jose Cabezas / REUTERS)