AMERICA/MEXICO - Prevention and relief centers: the Church committed against addiction

Monday, 29 September 2014

Zacatecas (Agenzia Fides) - "We must find a strategy for the prevention of addictions, and there are many ways. Unfortunately, what I see is the lack of rehabilitation centers or other supporting organizations. We have only our youth groups, who are able to reach only 2 per cent of all young people": said His Exc. Mgr. Siegfried Noriega Barceló, Bishop of the Diocese of Zacatecas (Mexico) who yesterday spoke after Sunday Mass with some journalists and members of the community.
According to the note sent to Fides from a local source, the Bishop wanted to denounce the situation of the community to the media because this phenomenon is on the rise and pointed out that "it is not enough to know, we must act", he said. According to Mgr. Noriega Barceló there are "more desires than concrete efforts" in this field and "there is also a lack of coordination between the different institutions".
"We have to think about a global strategy in this regard - he added - which should include both direct action and prevention, through the creation of centers that deal with this social sector with the awareness of the importance of healthy living". The Bishop also denounced the disintegration of the family unit caused by violence, while "the only reality that could stop this situation is the family".
Zacatecas has become a thriving area of drug and arms trafficking. According to data gathered by Fides, in the first half of this year 2014, the number of police interventions managed to stop the delivery of more than 12 tons of marijuana and 300 kilograms of cocaine, goods valued at about 53,800,595 USD (42.4 million euro). The great concern of the Church are the young, increasingly involved in drug trafficking and consumption. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 29/09/2014)


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