Freedom from addictions

In The Pope Video for April 2020, the Holy Father calls our attention to the addictions that affect society today, and asks us to pray that people be freed from their addictions and the sufferings that go with them. This is in consideration of other people who are suffering in the midst of the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic.

In Living Prayer 2020, Paul O’Reilly SJ, medical doctor who runs a clinic for the homeless in London, once came across the words of someone who was addicted to drugs: “Heat the spoon, watch it melt, fill the syringe and stab yourself”. He prays for those suffering from addiction and for the grace to accompany them and to help them.

The “drama of addiction” not only refers to drug, alcohol, and tobacco addictions, which continue to be the most prevalent causes of addiction in society. Today, this drama takes on various new forms: according to the World Health Organization, the growing use of the Internet, computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices that have appeared in recent decades is associated not only with clear and enormous benefits for their users and for society, but also with documented cases of excessive use, which often leads to various addictions with negative health consequences. They have to do with compulsive gambling, with pornography, with the excessive use of video games, and with the almost constant presence of users in platforms of the digital world. The excessive use of these platforms has a significant impact on the quality of our daily relationships, including the closest ones.

Click on the link above to watch the video ».