CBCP pushes active role for church, community, govt vs drugs

Government, the Church and the community must play a more active and coordinated role in fighting the drug menace, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said.

 

In a pastoral letter, the CBCP also admitted the Church is not doing enough to fight drugs, having "failed in bringing God to the youth as the only way to happiness."

 

"The community of the faithful should stand as one and be united in fighting this destructive menace and social evil. We must be firm in our resolve to eliminate it in our communities so that our young can live towards a healthy, productive, and vibrant future, and our adults not be sidetracked in their quest for fullness of life," it said.

 

It added that while the Church may have not done enough against the menace, dioceses and parishes must now invigorate and energize their youth ministry "to make them more creative, pro-active and responsive."

 

The Church should also come up with judiciously planned activities and programs for and by the youth with the help of and in collaboration with youth ministers both priests and laypeople.

 

Also, it said adult Church people should make an effort to listen to young people and become familiar with their temper, moods, language and “norms.”

 

"More importantly, the Church, in the spiritual and physical sense, must be a haven for the youth where their restlessness can be quelled and their curiosity assuaged through productive interaction with their peers and with adults who can share with them the Good News in a meaningful and enlightening fashion, and who can show them the fulfilling path of discipleship," the CBCP said.

 

Still no to death penalty

 

The CBCP said that while it remains opposed to the death penalty, it is for resoluteness from the police and law-enforcement agencies to:

 

 

"We call for the relentless prosecution of those responsible for trafficking in drugs and for those who traffic persons to be their drug mules," it added.

 

Community vigilance

 

The CBCP also said there is a need for communities to be formed into being involved in the prevention and prosecution of crime.

 

"It is the duty of the community to report crime, report the criminals in their midst, and ensure that justice is meted on the guilty through their testimony. The community should be on the lookout for another, especially being conscious of those who bring bad influence to their youth," it said.

 

Drug dependents not fully blameless

 

The CBCP said that while drug dependents cannot be blamed for their plight, they cannot be considered "blameless and helpless" either.

 

"Every individual is free to make decisions, and while we are faced with life’s frustrations, hardships, and loneliness, with communities that are no longer held together by faith, many do not turn to prohibited substances. We, your bishops, thus seek to address this matter of individual freedom and discretion," the CBCP said.

 

Also, the CBCP scored the "talagang ganyan na 'yan" mentality regarding the drug abuse problem.

 

"When one sees things as fated, as something about which a person is helpless, or a fact to which we resign ourselves, then we give up on human freedom and lose the motivation to change. When the person who has become addicted to drugs or the members of his family say of his dissolute ways talagang ganyan na 'yan, then the most powerful forces capable of breaking the destructive cycle of addiction are neutralized by this terribly mistaken belief!" it said.

 

It also cited a social dimension to the slavery of an addicted person, saying society has not provided a moral compass "because society is itself, adrift in so many ways."

 

The Church’s mission now is to provide the flock with the vision of a good and full life, it said.

 

The CBCP also recalled the question of Glyzel Palomar to Pope Francis at the University of Santo Tomas last January: “There are many children neglected by their parents. There are also many who became victims and many terrible things happened to them, like drugs or prostitution. Why is God allowing such things to happen? Why are there only a few people helping us?”

 

"The youth cry for meaning. That meaning can only be found in God. We must not get tired of answering that only in God can we find life’s meaning," it said.

 

Meanwhile, the CBCP also pushed for desks in every parish by ministries for the pastoral care of migrants and their families, where regular seminars can be given to persons who plan to work abroad. —Joel Locsin/KG, GMA News