Riccardo De Luca - Update / Shutterstock.com (Left), Adobe Stock (Right)
In a June 26 address to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Pope Leo XIV called the global drug trade a “chain of death” and urged governments to target traffickers, not their victims.
Speaking from the Vatican, the Pope described addiction as an “invisible prison” and praised those present for their resilience.
“Your presence here is a testimony of freedom,” he told them.
Pope Leo warned against focusing punitive efforts on those struggling with addiction while ignoring the larger systems enabling trafficking.
“Too often, in the name of security, war is waged against the poor, filling prisons with those who are merely the final link in a chain of death,” he said.
Instead, the pope said, “our fight” should be against those who profit from addiction — including drugs, alcohol, and gambling — and urged governments to dismantle the criminal organizations behind these industries.
“Our cities must not be freed of the marginalized, but of marginalization; they must be cleared not of the desperate, but of desperation,” he said.
Noting the communal nature of recovery, Pope Leo said, “We conquer evil together.”
“Joy is found together. Injustice is fought together,” he said. “The God who created and knows each one of us — and is more intimate to me than I am to myself — made us to be together.”
He quoted the late Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium, noting the value of cities that “connect, relate and favour the recognition of others.”
Pope Leo also addressed youth directly, encouraging them to recognize their role in renewal.
“You are not spectators of the renewal our earth so badly needs: you are protagonists,” he told them. “God does great things with those he frees from evil.”
He spoke of their role in a broader effort: “The Church needs you. Humanity needs you. Education and politics need you,” he said. “Together, we will make the infinite dignity imprinted on each person prevail over every degrading addiction.”
Pope Leo concluded by inviting participants to support each other through education, policy, and prayer.
“Let us go forward together, then, multiplying the places of healing, encounter and education: pastoral paths and social policies that start from the street and never give anyone up for lost,” he said, entrusting the group to the protection of the Virgin Mary and offering his blessing.
