"121....The evils caused by forms of dependence and the treatment of dependence are not the exclusive province of medicine. Medicine, however, has a preventive and therapeutic approach of its own."
Drug dependence
"122. Drug dependence can be an expression of the loss of meaning and value in life, to the point of putting it at risk: many cases of death by overdose are true suicides, strictly speaking."
"123....A judgment that drug use is illicit is not a judgment that condemns the person, who experiences his own condition of dependency as 'a heavy slavery'. [243]....recovery must be based on a reacquisition of values, without concealing any moral responsibilities....detoxification is more than a medical treatment; it is an integrally human intervention." [244]
'124....[A human being does not have a right to harm himself] and even less does he have a right to make others pay for his choice."
Alcoholism
"125....Alcohol abuse and dependence disregard the moral duty to safeguard and preserve health, and with it life...."
"126....An alcoholic is a sick person in need of medical treatment, along with help in terms of solidarity and psychotherapy. Such an individual warrants the engagement of integrally human measures."
- ["Father Edward Dowling (1898-1960), the oldest of five born to a devout
Irish Catholic family from Saint Louis, became a beloved Jesuit
priest. Though not himself an alcoholic, he was a close friend and
spiritual advisor to Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics
Anonymous....Noting the similarity of AA principles — surrender to a
Higher Power, rigorous honesty, a daily examination of conscience to
Ignatian spirituality, he applied them to the sacrament of marriage and
founded what would come to be known as Cana Conferences. His tone was
matter-of-fact and friendly. He helped found Recovery Inc....He applied
the AA principles to his own compulsive tendencies to overeat and
smoke" (Magnificat, November 2016).
-
"Another important, though somewhat later, Catholic influence on
AA was Fr. John C. Ford, S.J., one of Catholicism's most eminent moral
theologians. In the early forties, Ford himself recovered from
alcoholism with AA's help. He became one of the earliest Catholic
proponents of addressing alcoholism as a problem having spiritual,
physiological, and psychological, dimensions. Ford said that alcohol addiction is a pathology which is not
consciously chosen, but he rejected the deterministic idea that
alcoholism is solely a disease without any moral component....Wilson, impressed by Ford's insight, asked him to edit Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (with the Big Book, this is the basic text of 12-step recovery) and Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age....In so many ways, Ford's approach to addiction and recovery remains a model of spiritual discernment for our own time. (This Rock, October 1996)]
"127...Those who are responsible for health care policies and health care workers themselves....are charged with the work of prevention and dissuasion in their respective fields, through targeted and appropriate educational activity."
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