Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogotà (Fides Agency) – "The fact that drug trafficking manages to infiltrate and corrupt the power of the state, the police, the armed forces, the media, businesses, in short, all the institutions of democracy, is a cause for great concern", this urgent appeal comes from the Presidency of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAM) on the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in the region, which is celebrated every year on June 26th.
In their message, which is available to Fides, the bishops lament the fact that these illegal activities "have found complicity in the financial systems, evading controls and inspections and even using decentralized financing through cryptocurrencies".
"Drug trafficking promotes the dissolution of states, the replacement of the rule of law with another law, that of the strongest. It is a sign of the collapse of Western civilizatio. How can we not express our concern today?" the Latin American and Caribbean bishops lament, recalling that every life is sacred and encouraging all members of the Church and the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean not to give up and to continue working for the protection of life, placing it above power and money. "Wherever we embrace those who suffer, wherever we create the conditions for integral human development, wherever we extend the table so that everyone can eat, hope is born," they emphasize in this context.
Drug trafficking networks are gaining more and more ground, to the point of forming their own armies, gangs and violent groups to control territories. Added to this is the damage they cause to young people who lose their lives through the consumption of these substances, as well as to families who are broken by this painful reality.
Two years ago, CELAM created the Latin American Office for Pastoral Care and Prevention of Addiction "to place ourselves once again at the service of life and to bring together all the spaces in the region that are committed to protecting it," explain the bishops, who conclude their message with a prayer for the victims of drug trafficking and ask for the intercession of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas, so that she may bless the lives of all peoples and encourage them to find paths of peace that lead to full life.
(AP) (Fides Agency 26/6/2024)
