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Newsletter, January 2020

Conference on problems of dependence

Below are papers read at the conference on Theological Understanding of the Addiction Problem:
Orthodox and Catholic Approaches
October 1-2, 2019, Sankt Petersburg (continuation)

The Spiritual dilemma of the alcoholic priest

Archimandrite Meletios (Webber), Rector, St Nicholas of Myra Parish in Amsterdam, Russian Orthodox Church (Netherlands)

In the early seventies, Vladimir Volkoff wrote a novel, "le Tretre", which was very popular among Russian emigr?s in Europe. In the book, the then Communist Russian State attempted to infiltrate the Russian Orthodox Church by having one of their spies ordained as a priest.

The climax of the book, as I remember it, was that having become a priest, the man underwent an involuntary, yet very deep, spiritual change: once when he, a staunch unbeliever, was serving the Divine Liturgy, he became aware that he was, in fact, prostrating himself in front of the Body and Blood of Christ.

On a daily basis, the alcoholic priest experiences something similar, but in an almost exactly opposite way.

It is quite likely that, in the course of the Divine Liturgy, the alcoholic priest will find himself prostrating himself in front of nothing more than a large chalice of wine. Not because that is what he wants to believe. Rather, because that is what he actually experiences. He looks at the Blood of Christ, and sees nothing but wine.

The place of an alcoholic priest in the Orthodox Church is one of great pain. Able to see the beauty of God's revelation from close-up, nevertheless he knows that he is, in some devastating way, cut off from the Kingdom. Theology, whether of a dogmatic or of a pastoral nature, says nothing to him. Scripture, the writings of the Fathers, the Sacred Canons, even the very words of Christ in the Gospel, they all mean nothing to him. He is stuck in a prison, the walls of which are simply his own dysfunction.

In this short paper, I want to examine the situation of the alcoholic priest as a challenge for pastoral Theology. It is the nature of Christ's healing to concentrate on the lost sheep, and there are few who are as lost as a drinking priest.

Let me define this situation a little more. There are basically three groups of clergy who drink too much alcohol:

First, there are those who, for a variety of reasons, drink a great deal of alcohol in the course of their daily lives. These men may even claim their work demands such behaviour, at least from time to time. They may drink too much on particular occasions, and suffer considerably the next day as a result of their actions. However, nothing else bad seems to happen. Life goes on. To overindulge is hardly a virtue for them… but for these men it is not a serious defect either.

The second group are those who are hopelessly alcoholic. These men may drink every day, keeping their personal alcohol level at a point where they are neither obviously drunk, nor liable to enter into any of the very many, painful and dangerous withdrawal symptoms, with which they are familiar enough to want to avoid. They do not actually attempt to change anything in their lives… which they maintain are not problematic… since they fear that to do so might bring down the whole house of cards. They live a life of pretence and fear of being found out. However, they have no sense that they can, or want to, change, and most will die of alcohol-related symptoms: a slow, and rather inefficient form of suicide.

And then there is a third group, who are the focus of this talk. These men live from crisis to crisis, trying to remember what lies they have told to whom, knowing that their lives are completely out of control, yet wishing it were otherwise. They live in a world which is completely full of anger all around them, since anger is the reaction most people have towards alcoholics. Their family life is most likely grievously strained, and their relationships with their religious superiors, as well as their spiritual flocks, are tense beyond measure.

They may cope with the daily services, and at some level perform the other functions of a priest, but there is an emptiness about them. Ironically, they could usually be described as "religious" in that they know, and even try to enforce, the rules of Orthodoxy, but there is nothing about them which is actually spiritual, that is to say, nothing which indicates that they have any sort of relationship with God. They live a life of avoidance and subterfuge, manipulating those around them so that they can stay safe within their cocoon of self-centredness and insanity.

Days of overindulgence may result in hideous hangovers, but worse still, within the man himself there is an inner realisation that pain and chaos are far more real than anything the Kingdom of Heaven has to offer. Money somehow disappears, cars get crashed, creditors have to be avoided, families are ignored, funerals are forgotten … the list is almost endless. Waking up in strange places with strange people is a distinct possibility, and nothing… nothing about deep spiritual prayer makes any sense at all.

And life seems to have a way of adding to this list in new and yet more painful ways.

"To drink or not to drink" at four or five in the morning is not a good decision to have to make.

If he does drink, he knows that the next twenty-four hours will be yet another chaotic nightmare of attempting to get enough alcohol into his body whilst doing the absolute minimum of work in an attempt to make the world around him a little less angry.

If he does not drink, he knows that the next few hours may not get him into deeper trouble than he already is, but he will be in constant physical and mental pain, ruled by nothing less than the craving alcohol sets up in his body to drink again. And if he does drink, he also knows that he is not killing the pain… he is simply postponing it.

There is physical pain, there is also mental and spiritual pain. There are all the existential possibilities of meaninglessness, alienation, the inevitability of death, and (worst of all) a great big empty space where his faith ought to be. He may claim to be a man of God, but he has no relationship with Him, and He appears to be unknown to him. His main (ultimately only) relationship which has any value is the one he has with alcohol.

Alcoholics give up on God rather quickly. Even alcoholic priests. After all, their one prayer that makes any sense is: "God help me"! But God doesn't seem to want to help.

Very often, the trouble is that the alcoholic does NOT really want to stop drinking.

What he really wants to do is to be able to drink, but without the problems.

And God does not seem to be interested in that idea.

The drinking priest knows that pain will consume him in the end. That is the deep knowledge which he finds within himself in the place where his faith ought to be.

And all the time there is a nagging… a deep and constant nagging, that he is failing: Failing (very badly and obviously) not just as a priest, but as a human being.

I describe this experience in some detail because I can remember it. It was quite a long time ago, but I can remember it. At least, parts of it.

And if it happened to me, perhaps it happens to others as well. Perhaps to lots of others.

***

In the last few years, as well as working in a large Russian Orthodox parish, I have also travelled a great deal meeting with alcoholic, Orthodox priests in recovery. That is to say, meeting with clergy who are alcoholic, but who no longer drink.

I cannot say, with any authority, what other people need to do to solve the problem, but in my conversation with others who have been, or are now in, similar situations, there seems to be a growing consensus about what we, alcoholic, Orthodox clergy, can do.

I came into Orthodoxy in the late 1960's in England. As such, I had some of the finest spiritual teachers. Among them, Fr Sophrony of Essex, Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, and Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh.

It was Metropolitan Anthony who, in the course of Confession one day, hinted, rather forcefully, that I should go to Alcoholics Anonymous. Those of you who had personal contact with Metropolitan Anthony will likely remember what it was like to be given "a hint" by the Metropolitan. He would fix you with his gaze (which could itself be an almost painful experience) and "love" you into doing something that you really did not want to do.

Looking back, I see that what he was doing was not making a Theological statement, but rather acting out of pastoral necessity. He was a deeply spiritual man, but also a physician. He was trained to use whatever medicine was available to treat his patients. This he did both as a doctor and as a priest, sometimes under very difficult circumstances.

Although I respected Metropolitan Anthony very much, I did not want to obey him. In my alcoholic mind, I wanted to find the healing I needed from within the Church, where I not only felt safe, but also had (at least in my own mind) some sort of status. I certainly did not want to sit around with a bunch of people who had never heard of the Orthodox Church and talk to them about God.

He told me not to tell the people that I was a priest. "It is not your priesthood that needs to be healed," he said. "It is your personhood".

This pushed me far away from my comfort zone and so I found and used every possible excuse not to go to AA. I hear many similar arguments from others today… AA is not Orthodox enough, it is not Russian or Greek or Serbian enough, AA is too independent, too foreign… too frightening.

Unfortunately, all that happened was that my life just got worse and worse, as it tends to do under these circumstances.

Eventually, I did go, for a while… perhaps a few weeks, but I was full of resentment and I did not stop drinking. It was during this period that some of the worst things in my life happened, things that I have shared many times in confession. The guilt and shame of being an alcoholic priest were almost more than I could bear.

If you want a more literary account of this journey, read Graham Greene's "The Power and the Glory". It features an alcoholic, Catholic priest, living in Mexico. But, apart from those differences, his story was my story. All alcoholic priests tell the same story.

I went back to the Metropolitan, hoping he would say something like "Well, you tried…". But he did not. "Go back to AA" was the advice I got.

I still did not want to go.

But, eventually, I did.

And in the course of those many meetings, I began to learn the reality of my situation, together with picking up some tools that I could use to change my life.

And so it happened that on the last day of February, many years ago, I had my last alcoholic drink.

Until today.

And with the grace of God, I will not drink today.

Alcoholics Anonymous is not a perfect organisation by any means, but the collective wisdom of its members is precisely what the alcoholic needs to get better.

Make no mistake: No one has to go to AA, or learn about its approach to recovery from alcoholism. There appear to be alternatives.

Certainly, go to a spiritual father, if you can find one. He may be able to help, at least if he has any experience with alcoholism. If he does not have that experience, and simply treats alcoholism like any other moral failure, he may do more harm than good, no matter how spiritual he is. Most of the wisdom which the alcoholic needs to learn is counter-intuitive, even for the most experienced spiritual father. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh knew that. That's why he sent me to AA.

Certainly go to psychologists and doctors, if you will. They may be able to help, too. There are many forms of treatment available, and some of them may work, particularly in combination with other forms of therapy.

And do, above all, grow in the Orthodox Faith. Deepening one's own faith is a perfectly reasonable response to receiving the healing which God now seems so pleased to give.

***

My voice is small, and entirely unimportant. However, if there is something I want to share with alcoholics who are struggling with drinking, it is this: I had to go to Alcoholics Anonymous to get, and stay sober. You may actively engage in many different forms of recovery simultaneously, but make sure that AA, in some form, is at least a part of that mix.

I needed AA to get better. Without AA I have absolutely no doubt that I would be dead by now. Just another victim of alcohol, like so very many before me.

If it was true for me; it may be true for you. Or for someone you know.

One more thing: Within the experience of AA there is a dictum to which we might all pay attention. "Take what you need, and leave the rest".

In the almost impossible fight against the influence of alcohol in a person's life, we need to focus not on theoretical models, but on the practicalities of getting someone into recovery. Theory does not do much to an alcoholic brain. Practical steps are far more efficient.

***

One obvious and important factor for consideration in our conference is that it is the recovering alcoholic priest (i.e. a priest, or other clergyman who is no longer drinking, and who is involved in an ongoing programme of recovery, either through a treatment centre or through Alcoholics Anonymous) who himself becomes the model for others around him. More than that, it is this person who is likely to have the greatest impact on other priests who are still drinking. If in each diocese there could be one priest (at least) who knows alcoholism from the inside, from personal experience, who could be called upon officially or unofficially to offer recovery to his fellow priests who need it, then a great part of how to face the problem is solved.

The richness of Orthodoxy focusses upon the ministry of the God-man Jesus Christ. He brought healing to those around Him and healing was the way in which He brought the Kingdom of Heaven to mankind. His healing was not a bi-product, simply some sort of crowd-pleaser or attractor so that He could deliver some package of religious faith. Healing was the manifestation of the Kingdom (cf Luke 13:32).

There are two things one can do with a drinking alcoholic: punish him or heal him.

Allowing Christ to heal the alcoholic in whatever way He sees fit, would seem to be the more suitable response.

Bibliography

Volkoff, Vladimir, Le Tretre, 1972

Bill W., Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, 1939

Archimandrite Meletios (Webber), Steps of Transformation, 2003

Drugs and addictions among young people

Chiara Amirante, Founder and president of New Horizons ("Nuovi Orizzonti")

My personal experience of marginal life

I would like to share some of my experience from the times when thousands of homeless and neglected children in difficult life situations became members of my new family. My burning desire to respond to the anguished cry of those I call "the people of the night" brought me to the decision thirty years ago to go out in the night streets and meet numerous young people who lived in dramatic conditions. Thus, I discovered that there is a whole multitude of new types of poverty: poor young people, who may be quite well off, but with desperate longing for love; they may have a good home, but feel lonely and homeless even amidst thousands of other people. They may look free and independent, but they are enfettered by many new addictions; they wear designer brands, but feel stripped of their self-esteem, humiliated, raped and deeply wounded.

When I first went into the deserts of our metropolitan cities, I was not aware that there were so many young people, broken and dispirited by drugs, prostitution, alcohol, deviant behaviour, numerous other temptations of the consumer society, the deadly poison of relativism, hedonism and consumerism. There are so many young people fooled by false prophets. They seek to find happiness in amusement and entertainment, sex, money, and good looks, but instead they get nothing but sadness, depression, the hell and death! There are so many young men and women who have to sell their bodies to nefarious passers-by, turning into the walking dead through the illusion of an artificial paradise, which imprisons their soul and inflicts lethal wounds. What a shocking number of abused children! So much loneliness and suffering! And too much indifference around us!

Many desperate young people would hug me and plead me from the very first time we met in the street, "Please, save me from this hell!" At first, I felt small, fragile and helpless, unable to do anything for the people of the night. …But then, I saw a ray of light, filled with confidence - "Love is stronger. Love is the victor. Love works miracles, because God is Love!" This inspired me to set up a host community, where I could offer a journey of self-discovery, a path to healing and psychological and spiritual rebirth.

Providence helped me to set up a simple Gospel-based community which welcomed my new brothers and sisters from the streets). It was suggested to the youngsters, accepted in the community, to live literally by the Gospel. Their reaction truly took me by surprise.

The New Horizons experience

I could never have imagined that thousands of young people, having discovered their Love to God and healed their hearts, would preach - after some training - about God's Love amongst their peers and dedicate their lives to the cause of evangelization. Within several years God turned the people of the night into new people - over 700.000 Knights of Light have dedicated their lives to the letter and spirit of the Gospel; they want to bring the joy of the Risen Christ to the multitude of other people.

Thanks to the commitment of many young people, the number of such centres and evangelization initiatives has grown. There are 228 of them, including host centres, open for listening as well as instruction in the Gospel and spirituality, and host families; 5 Celestial Fortresses ("Cittadelle Cielo") are currently under construction (small settlements to welcome people and train them in international voluntary work and evangelization); more than 1000 Ministry Teams fully immersed in new types of evangelization in the fields of mass media and communications, entertainment and animation, culture and publishing, prevention and evangelization, international cooperation and social services, hospitality, vocational guidance, economics and work, prayer and spiritual development. These activities have allowed us to meet thousands of young people in the countries, where our Community operates today, going to schools, streets, places of military conflicts, places where young people gather, and we have seen how the situation of young people is becoming alarmingly worse.

Some relevant facts:

  • The number of different forms of addiction and distress young people experience, is on the rise. Approximately 80% of adolescents we meet, even in schools of the richest districts, demonstrate at least one of many disturbing symptoms, which characterize the modern poverty of the youth: drug abuse (so-called, synthetic drugs continue to spread even among the youngest, 20% of them are children of 12 to 15); alcohol abuse; anorexia and bulimia; forms of depression and mental disorders coupled with serious behavioral disorders. Besides, the feeling of discomfort is beginning to prevail among the youth, as well as deviant behaviour and bullying, escalated, in certain cases, to violence; emotional trauma, sexual abuse, pornography and highly dangerous erotic chats. The family experiences a deep identity crisis, it has lost its educational and disciplinary role and no longer has meaningful life. The number of separated and divorced couples is growing exponentially, bringing suffering to themselves and their children. The gender theory is imposed in many countries and coercively disseminated, alarmingly asserting itself in schools.
  • Sexual addiction continues to engulf a growing number of young people, destroying their lives. Forced prostitution, pedophilia, abortions (WHO speaks about 56 million abortions per year) are reaching alarming proportions. Sexual abuse is on the rise with natural dramatic consequences: 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 were exposed to a forced sexual contact within one year (UNICEF data). 29% of adults polled confirm that they were sexually abused in their childhood (UN data).
  • Pornography is another cause for alarm: search engine shows 68 million queries for pornography sites, which is 25% of the overall number of queries. Nine children out of ten aged from 8 to 16 access pornographic sites on the Internet.
  • Internet and social media addiction is also growing in number (Internet addiction, compulsive gambling, addiction to video-games, video-poker, social media); we spend an average of 6 hours daily on the Internet, according to the 2017 Digital, Social & Mobile Report of the We Are Social Agency. The report covered the digital market of 240 countries. This data proves that the clear line between the reality and VR for adolescents, and the new generation, in general, is becoming more and more blurred, which causes serious psychological and social problems. Just think of time spent by adolescents playing violent videogames. It is a proven fact nowadays that our brain is recording the vividly imagined experience as reality.
  • Information on the web and in the mass-media is often negative, violent and controversial in nature, which leads to escalation of violence and problems in relations. It seems we are all heading toward the, so-called, fluid society, which accounts for "more and more fluid identities".
  • Many young people are forced to immigrate, so as to avoid starvation and war: they come to western countries to find jobs, but quite often fall victims to organized crime and various addictions.

These are but a few alarming facts and impressive problems that call for a highly responsible approach. We are, indeed, living through World War III, which leads to the death, not only in literal terms, of millions of people - something we are not always aware of. The culture of death and terror is a serious affliction, and we should not underestimate the threat of many treacherous ideologies, which poison the minds and hearts of people and destroy whole generations.

New poisons that form young people's personality

Accumulated experience proves that many young people, including those from good solid families, demonstrate alarming symptoms of distress. This has brought me to the thought that it is the result of many poisons that youngsters unknowingly consume.

Relativism. There is no distinct line between the good and the evil. One can do anything they like, because everyone else does. New dangerous ideologies are being widely disseminated, ideologies propagated under the disguise of great democratic achievements, which, in fact, "in the name of rights" undermine the ethical foundations of society.

Consumerism. The principle of disposability (from Italian "usa e getta"- use and throw away) poisons human relations, inflicting deep and destructive wounds. In the name of the golden calf we seem to be ready to destroy the fundamental rights of each person and self-esteem.

Hedonism. We have shifted from what is good to what I like, which leads to the massive growth of alcohol, drug and other dangerous addictions.

Narcissism. More and more people are investing in to seem, rather than in to be. The desire to be the centre of attention at all costs is becoming compulsive and dangerous, especially in the young generation.

Individualism. Competition is gradually replacing cooperation and solidarity. The communication society is, in fact, demonstrating a growing lack of real communication. We rarely communicate with the members of our family nowadays, the same is happening with the youth. Virtual relations are becoming a dangerous substitute of real relations. The number of young people who fell deeply lonely, despite being immersed in societal activity is increasing.

This alarming information concerns each one of us. In the light of these challenges, it is becoming urgently necessary to increase our joint efforts and offer a pro-active response to the spread of modern poverty. It is necessary to stand up against the daily consumed poisons with the help of evangelic transformation, brought to us by Christ, which is timely and necessary more than ever, so as the cry of many young people does not remain unheard.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude with the words of Pope Francis from his Evangelii Gaudium ("Joy of the Gospel"). "Every Christian and every community are called to be God's instruments for the liberation of the poor, so that they become fully integrated into society; this presupposes that we hear the cry of the poor with obedience and attention, and help them. […] If we remain deaf to this cry of the poor for help, when we should be instrumental to His hearing the poor, we happen to put ourselves outside the will of the Father and His Plan" (EG187).

The Catholic view on theology and spirituality of addiction and recovery

Rev. Father Ivan Filippovic, Rev. Marco Lattarulo, Last Supper Community (Cenacolo)

We are deeply grateful to the Lord for this moment of communion between our lives and our Churches, for these days when we can stop and bow together, like a good Samaritan, over the wounds of the people enslaved to addictions, people deeply hurt by evil, to hear their cry of pain, to compare our perspectives and practices that shed some light on this dimension of human suffering and this area of mission for those who follow Christ.

We would like to share, in rather simple terms, the experience of our community and our personal stories of resurrection.

First of all, we are bringing you the greetings of Mother Elvira Petrozzi, a nun who gave life to our community and who is now an 82-year old 'grandmother'. Her life is marked by the mystery of the Cross - it has been consumed and spent thoroughly and generously for the sake of young people struggling with addictions and their families. She can no longer travel, she can barely talk but her bright eyes and her smile still speak to us of a great, all-encompassing Love for life.

We are a small phenomenon within the Church, yet we are also a big family that, on daily basis, shares the journey of conversion with those who come, the journey they themselves call "out of the darkness into the Light". Last Supper community was born in July of 1983 in an abandoned home on Saluzzo hill in Cuneo province in north-western Italy. Through the years, many more homes like that opened their doors - first in Italy, then throughout Europe, then in other parts of the world - with as many as 71 communities in 21 countries welcoming thousands of those who need help at present.

Personally, I am privileged to be here today as a priest serving the Lord and the Church to proclaim God's mercy but when I was young I myself was stung by evil and in chains of drug addiction. Thus, I bring you here, in my person, the pain, the wounds, the expectations and hopes of all people who, just like me in the past, suffer from being enslaved to drugs and are waiting for "the time of favour … the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2, NIV).

I am from Croatia and I first learned about Christian faith at home, in my family. The absence of my father was felt very acutely - he worked abroad to support us and would come home only for big public holidays. At the age of 15, I became a rebel. I didn't want to accept the way of life imposed on me by society and family; everything seemed suffocatingly small and meaningless. School, university, career, money, family, home… I was longing for something better than this. I started looking for this 'something better' elsewhere by dropping school, leaving home, and going abroad. On the roads of the world I have encountered so much evil and was so miserable that I got on drugs and became an addict. My desperation in my struggle with drugs and the unceasing prayer of my mother led me to the gate of Last Supper Community to ask for help. This was on September 27, 1994, in one of the fraternities near Split in Croatia. This was the beginning of my resurrection.

What really struck me was, first of all, the way other guys welcomed me: their faces and their look gave me some hope. I felt that I was not 'a study case' to be examined but a wounded brother who was accepted, loved, and taught. They stood by me during my first struggles, and their faithful and sincere friendship filled my heart with hope. I told myself, "If they could do it, so can I". Little by little, I was opening up, I was beginning to trust the kindness that was offered to me, and I felt the urge to open the door of my heart to the Lord - I saw in myself strong trust in God and a great desire to live. I accepted the offer of faith and, thus, coming closer to God, by His mercy, I found in communal and personal prayer the peace and tranquillity I had been missing for years. Listening to the Word of God with others, participating in the sacraments of penance and Eucharist, reading Rosary - these things were setting the rhythm of my life now and, with time, I found myself falling in love with Christian faith.

I got reconciled with my past, I surrendered it to God's mercy, and I had never been so happy and calm in the present: I would wake up to joyfully pray, work, be with others, live in the truth… I found what I had been looking for all along, and everything took on a new meaning, even my past sufferings and mistakes. My desire to share this joy with my brothers with the same desperate past was growing stronger. I was trying to get them involved in prayer, in this experience of living out your salvation in Christ; I was sharing their daily struggles, sacrifices, and joys.

After a few years of following the good path, I felt the strong desire to give my whole life to the Lord and the brethren. Upon getting the necessary education, thanks to God's mercy and to the Church, I have been leading the life of ministry to the Lord and the brethren since 2004. I am a living witness of the fact that the grace of God, the support of a real community, and a serious journey of deep commitment can work wonders and can help you to change your life. After a brief summary of my personal journey to resurrection, I am going to try now to give you a summary of our perspective on the realm of addictions.

Our perspective on addictions

Our perspective on the realm of addictions in various countries where our communities work is a result of simple observation that begins with grassroots' realities, with encounters, talks and stories shared by those who come for help and their families. We see that the phenomenon of addictions reaps its harvest everywhere, especially among the youth. On the one hand, we are witnessing new forms of discomfort and addictions (Internet, social media, pornography, gambling, synthetic drugs, etc.), and on the other hand, we see the comeback of 'classical' drugs, modified and adapted in such a way that they would have even more destructive effect, especially on one's psyche. We see a tendency in Western countries to accept addiction as a "new norm": quite often the family or social environment tells the young people to accept their addicted state as something "normal", something they may, if they wish, substitute for something else or fix through medication or therapy. The problem is covered up and transferred almost exclusively to the realm of medicine - a dimension that is undoubtedly important but has its own limitations. There is a subtle temptation to find an "exterior fix" that would not actively involve either the addict, or the family, or the society, the fix that would give the false sense of security, as if everything was alright or as if the problem was to be solved by someone else, not the addict, not me, not everyone of us.

We should not fall into this temptation to soothe, silence or numb the cry of pain of many addicts and their families, the pain that should nudge our conscience and motivate everyone - the families, the society, the Church - to seek, believe, hope, love life and offer ways of deliverance, conversion, the possibility of change.

We are deeply grateful to all the effort on the side of medicine and research in study and treatment of diseases connected to the vast realm of addictions, yet we are convinced that these efforts are not enough for, as Mother Elvira would often say, "no pill can give a man inner peace, the desire to start anew, meaning of life and joy of living".

The addicts should be actively involved in understanding their problems and, therefore, in necessity of turning for help, making serious steps towards conversion and change that address the whole man, in his various aspects, and help him to break free from the chains of addictions and rediscover the joy of freedom that comes hand in hand with responsibility. It is the spiritual emptiness that makes a man lost and void of meaning, weak and vulnerable in his struggle with evil, an easy prey to the false illusions of the world, unable to make a solo journey to true deliverance and redemption. Yet it is within this experience of false illusion, weakness, and woundedness that a man realises that he cannot save himself, that he needs salvation - and cry out to God and ask brethren for help.

As a community, we believe that a true way of deliverance from evil, healing of the wounds, conversion into the new life can happen only where there is a true encounter with the Lord, who came "not for the healthy but for the sick, not for the righteous but for sinners" (cf. Mk. 2:17). And we are testifying of the fact that where such encounter happens, man can truly be reborn and revived.

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