To the
participants in an International Congress on Drugs
The Struggle Against the
Scourge
of Drug Addiction Is Everyone’s Business,
Each According to His Own responsibility
The Holy Father’s address on October 11, 1997
to the symposium on drugs held at the Vatican and organized
by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral
Assistance to Health-Care Workers
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate and the
Priesthood,
Dear Friends,
1.I am pleased to welcome you on the occasion
of the international meeting on drug addiction. I thank Archbishop Javier
Lozano Barragán, President of the Pontifical
Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health-Care Workers, for his words of
welcome and for organizing this meeting. Indeed, it is particularly appropriate
to reflect on the serious questions arising from the phenomenon of drugs and on
the urgent need for research that will help political and economic leaders,
teachers and families tried by the tragedy of drug addiction.
2.For some years the Holy See has
been able to express its ideas on this subject, making pastoral, educational
and social proposals. We must
unfortunately note that today this phenomenon is reaching every milieu and
region of the world. More and more children and adolescents are becoming
consumers of toxic substances, often because they were first tried casually or
defiantly. Parents and teachers often find themselves unprepared and
discouraged. Doctors, as well as health and social services, encounter serious
problems when it is a question of helping those who seek their aid to escape
the drug scene. It must be recognized that a crack-down on those who use
illegal substances is not enough to contain this scourge; in fact, a significant criminal network of
trafficking and financing has been organized on an international scale. Most
of the time the economic power connected with the production and
commercialization of these substances escapes the law and justice.
It is therefore not
surprising that a great feeling of helplessness and powerlessness is overrunning
society. Some are
of the opinion that the production and sale of certain drugs should be
legalized. Certain authorities are prepared to do nothing, seeking merely to
limit drug consumption by trying to control its effects. Consequently, in school
the use of certain drugs is becoming common; this is encouraged by talk that
tries to minimize the dangers, especially by distinguishing between soft and
hard drugs, which leads to proposals for liberalizing the use of certain
substances. This distinction disregards and downplays the risks inherent in
taking any toxic product, especially behavioural
dependency, which is based on the psychic structures themselves, the blurring of conscience and the loss of one’s will and freedom,
whatever the drug.
3. The drug phenomenon is a particularly serious evil. Many young
people and adults have died or will die as a result, while others find their
personal capacities diminished. Young people resort to drugs for many reasons.
At critical moments in their growth, drug addiction is to be considered
symptomatic of problems in life, of difficulty in finding a place in society,
of a fear of the future and of an escape into an illusory, artificial life.
Youth is a time of trial and questioning, of searching for meaning in life and
of making future commitments. The increased selling and consumption of drugs
show that we are in a world pressed for
hope, lacking vigorous human and spiritual prospects. Hence many young
people think that all behaviour is the same, and do not differentiate between
good and evil or acquire a sense of moral limits.
Nevertheless, I value the efforts of parents
and teachers to inculcate moral and
spiritual values in their children, so that they behave as responsible
people. They often do this courageously, but they do not always feel supported,
especially when the media spread morally unacceptable messages which serve as
cultural standards in all the countries of the world, advocating, for example,
many family models which destroy the normal image of the married couple and
disparage family values, or which consider violence and sometimes drugs
themselves as signs of personal liberation.
4. The fear of the future and of
adult commitments which can be observed in the young makes them particularly
vulnerable. Often they are not encouraged to struggle for a good, upright life;
they have the tendency to withdraw into themselves. One can no longer minimize
the devastating effect of unemployment to which young people fall prey in
proportions unworthy of a society that wishes to respect human dignity. The
forces of death then urge them to abandon themselves to drugs, to violence,
sometimes even to the point of suicide. Behind what can appear as fascination
with a sort of self-destruction, we must
see in these young people a call for help and a deep thirst for life, which
should be taken into account, so that the world will radically modify what it
offers and its ways of life. Too many young people are left to themselves and
do not benefit from an attentive presence, a stable home, normal schooling or a
social and educational framework that arouses a moral and intellectual effort
in them and helps them to steel their will and master their emotions.
5. The
struggle against the scourge of chemical dependency is everyone’s business,
each according to his own responsibility. I first urge husbands and wives to develop stable conjugal and family relations,
based on a love that is exclusive, lasting and faithful. They will thus create
the best conditions for a peaceful home life, offering their children the emotional security and self-confidence
they need for their spiritual and psychological growth. It is also
important that parents, who have the primary responsibility for their children,
and, with them, the whole adult community, be constantly concerned about the
education of youth. I therefore invite everyone
who has an educational role to intensify efforts with young people who need
to form their conscience, develop their interior life and create positive
relationships and constructive dialogue with their brothers and sisters; they
will help them become free and responsible for their lives. Young people who
have a structured personality, a sound moral and human formation and harmonious
and trusting relationships with their peers and with adults will be more likely
to resist the enticements of those who spread drugs.
6. I invite the civil authorities, the economic decision-makers and all who have
social responsibility to continue and intensify their efforts to improve anti-drug abuse legislation at every
level and to oppose all forms of drug culture and trafficking, sources of
wealth scandalously acquired by exploiting the frailty of defenceless persons.
I encourage the public authorities, parents, teachers, health-care professionals
and Christian communities to be jointly and increasingly involved in the work of prevention among young
people and adults. Wise and accurate medical information must be given,
especially to young people, stressing the harmful effects of drugs on the
physical, intellectual, psychological, social and moral levels. I am aware of the tireless devotion and patience of those
who care for and attend to persons ensnared in drugs, and their families. I
invite the parents whose child has a chemical dependency never to despair, to
stay in communication with him, to show him their affection and to encourage
his contacts with facilities that can care for him. A family’s warm attention
is a great support for the interior struggle and for the progress of detoxification.
7. I salute the tireless and patient pastoral commitment of priests,
religious and lay persons in the world of drugs; they support parents and
are keen to welcome and listen to young people, to understand their radical
questions in order to help them escape the spiral of drugs and become free and
happy adults. The Church’s mission is to
transmit the word of the Gospel that opens us to God’s life and enables us to
discover Christ, the Word of Life who offers a path of human and spiritual
growth. Following the example of her Lord and in solidarity with her brothers
and sisters in humanity, the Church comes to the aid of the lowliest and the
weakest, caring for those who are wounded, fortifying those who are sick,
seeking the personal growth of each one.
At the end of our meeting, I salute the mission
undertaken by the Pontifical Council for
Pastoral Assistance to Health-Care Workers in carefully considering the
human and spiritual problems posed by drug dependency and by all health-care
and social issues, in order to offer solutions for situations that are gravely
harmful to men and women, our brothers and sisters. Likewise, in conjunction
with the Pastors of the particular Churches, the faithful and the competent
services involved in supporting those with a drug addiction and their families,
the Council is called to offer its support to local initiatives.
I entrust you and your activity to the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary; I also beseech her for the young
people who are in the grip of drugs, and for their loved ones. May she surround
them with her motherly concern! May she guide the world’s young people to an
ever more harmonious life! May the Holy Spirit go with you and give you the
necessary courage for your work on behalf of youth! I impart my Apostolic
Blessing to you all, to your collaborators and to the members of your families.