How Can the Catholic Church Help Solve the Problem of Drugs in the Country? (A Continuation)

(a continuation, 2nd to the last part)

One of the most notable reactions that I have received for the first parts of this reflection was that “it is a well-balanced view on the political situation that the country is in”, the situation that dragged the Church to be involved.

Another reaction (and I also received it from friends) was that “although it may provoke some of us to look differently the situation and decide to have our own so-called ‘war on drugs’ steps, that is, the Church’s own way of responding to the situation, a response based on Gospel values, the article, however, did not mention specific ways or actions that we, as the Church, should take. After all, the title of the article asked the question of how.

To this, I both disagree and agree.

I disagree because, I actually mentioned some specific actions like, first, the urgency to listen, on the part of the Church, to the real situations which is not heard when we immediately condemn events and people, thus putting us immediately above everyone morally. There is, consequently, an “us” against “them” mentality. We are right; they are wrong.

Second, I also mentioned the necessity for accompaniment on our part. This is to recall into mind the pleading of Pope Francis to all of us, particularly, pastors – “to smell like the sheep.”

This is a big challenge because “to accompany” seems to have disappeared in our vocabulary, at least, to many if not all of us. Accompaniment calls us to become a “church of silence”, that is, the Church that cries, feels and suffers the pain together with the families of the victims of the violent killings, but also with those families who are broken due to drug use and those families that are struggling to be whole but are on their way of self-destruction if they are not rescued.

Third, I also mentioned that pastors of the parish can have a visible “NO TO DRUGS” campaign in their parishes.

And, fourth, in their homilies, they can also include a condemnation of drugs as evil that threatens the Church, the faithful and the society just as pornography, abortion, same-sex marriage, RH Law, divorce do pose a threat.

These suggestions are not enough, and so I agree that they bear no grand solution to the problem of drugs. I agree that they offer only little hope or solution to the problem. Little solution, yes, they are, but it is better to have a little solution than to have nothing at all and just resort only to condemnation, on the one hand, and do no concrete actions, on the other hand. (Alfe Alimbon)