Archdiocese to launch “Narcotics Anonymous”

By August 21, 2016Inside News, News

DAGUPAN CITY—“Let us unite against drugs but let us offer an alternative to killing criminals.”

This was reiterated by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, to priests, nuns and catechists in his archdiocese that recently underwent a formation seminar on the pastoral care of drug users at the Lay Formation Center here.

Towards this end, Villegas has proposed the establishment of “Narcotics Anonymous” and a ten-session training workshop for facilitators for “Narcotics Anonymous” will be organized in selected parishes in the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan.

The program, the archbishop said, will need Narcotics Anonymous Ministers who are process-oriented with a genuine caring attitude for people with sufficient communication skills and have some basic counseling skills

“While we vehemently protest the increase of summary killings, we must get our pastoral act together to minister to those in need of mercy and pastoral compassion as they dream of better lives after recovering from drug abuse,” Villegas told the participants.

“Killings must stop. Let us offer hope,” he stressed.

He said, “The recent reported increase in vigilante killings related to the drug abuse problem brings us disconcerting pastoral grief and calls for concerted pastoral action.”

“This is an urgent pastoral concern. We cannot let people die and get killed,” he said. “Our weapon is love not vengeance. The blood of the Lord is enough,” he added. (Tita Roces)

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