The following article was published in recognition of National Recovery Month, a yearly program sponsored by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
By Barry Schoedel
September 13,
2013
Southeast Alaska Catholic Newspaper Online
Many people may not realize this, but the Church, primarily through the
commitment of individual Catholics, has been involved in reaching out to those
enslaved to substances or behaviors since the Incarnation of Christ in the womb
of the Virgin Mary. Indeed the Word became Flesh to reconcile an estranged
humanity to the Father, and this reconciliation leaves no stone unturned. It
embraces all that is good and true in medicine while completing it with the love
of God. It is intrinsic to the vocation of the Church that she effects and
guides the liberation of peoples from their various forms of bondage. This
includes those who are harmfully enslaved to substances and behaviors. As
Catholics we are grateful for the medical disciplines that support recovery and
at the same time have a responsibility to proclaim the love of God in Jesus
Christ to all peoples, especially the mentally ill and those suffering from
substance abuse disorders.
Even before the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, through
such organizations as the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus – founded by Fr. James Cullen S.J. in Ireland in 1898 – there
have been Catholics specifically committed to serving the good of those who are
dependent on alcohol. Venerable Matt Talbot was freed from the compulsion to
drink when he recognized that he was enslaved to it and only a new life in God
could free him. After reaching out for help from others, he gave his life to God
through devotion to Jesus, daily Mass, meditation and prayer, receiving
spiritual direction, and mortification. Matt is an inspiration to many people in
recovery because he was a simple man, a humble Irish laborer, whom God used as
an instrument of grace to communicate that his grace could relieve people of the
compulsion to drink. Matt’s life was a continual seeking of the reconciliation
offered in Christ, allowing himself to be led by the Holy Spirit to a restored
relationship with God the Father.
Bill W., one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous,
considered Fr. Ed Dowling, S.J., an important spiritual director. Bill W.
grappled much with the Catholic faith and made a sincere effort to try to
understand the faith, though he struggled with accepting the authority of the
Church. An often unmentioned and behind the scenes founder of Alcoholics
Anonymous was Sister Ignatia Gavin. In 1935 she admitted a patient that Dr. Bob
(another founder of A.A.) brought to her hospital for the treatment of
alcoholism. The hospital didn’t want to admit alcoholics. The disease aspect of
chemical dependency was not well understood at this time and it was seen as
strictly a moral problem and a problem of the will. Sr. Ignatia was able to
admit this patient under a diagnosis of acute gastritis, thus revolutionizing
the approach to the treatment of alcoholism. Sr. Ignatia worked to get
alcoholism accepted as a medical condition serious enough to have its own
criteria for admission so that alcoholics didn’t have to be admitted through the
“back door.” Her efforts resulted in an entire ward of the hospital being
devoted to the care of recovering alcoholics. This was a huge advance in the
treatment of alcoholism and has influenced how we approach all chemical
dependency issues.
Fr. John Doe (Fr. Ralph Pfau), a priest who was trained
at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana and served in Indianapolis, is believed to be
the first Roman Catholic priest who sought the help of Alcoholics Anonymous to
be free from the compulsion to drink. Fr. Ralph Pfau was a prolific author of
materials to support both Catholics and non-Catholics in recovery from
Alcoholism. Books such as Sobriety Without End, Sobriety and Beyond, and his
Golden Book series were well used resources by both Catholics and non-Catholics
in the early history of AA. They remain some of the best recovery resources
available. Fr. Ralph also was instrumental in the founding of what is now the
National Catholic Council on Addictions. Fr. Ralph especially worked during his
life to reach out to priests and religious who were alcoholic, which led to the
founding of what is now called Guest House, a substance abuse ministry to clergy
and religious who are alcoholic and/or addicted. Their mission statement is, “to
provide information, education, treatment and care needed to assure that clergy,
men and women religious, and seminarians suffering from alcoholism and other
related conditions have the best opportunity for quality recovery.” The success
of Guest House led to the foundation of a similar program in India called
Friendship House as well as the establishment of the National Catholic Council
on Addictions.
The late Jesuit and moral theologian Fr. John C. Ford was
also an early A.A. member and friend of Bill W. Fr. John Ford became an
important resource for the Church’s developing understanding of the
psychological and moral aspects of alcoholism. The late Fr. John C. Ford is to
this day considered an eminent moral theologian, who helped the Church
articulate such Catholic teachings as the moral evil of contraception. More
recently, Cardinal Justin Rigali (the then) Archbishop of Philadelphia, held a
one day conference on addictions, delivering a keynote address titled, “Let the
Oppressed Go Free: Breaking the Bonds of Addiction,” which is now available in
book format. Just this summer, Archbishop Tobin of the Archdiocese of
Indianapolis, delivered the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Guest
House ministry, sharing honestly about his own confrontation with chemical
dependency and his journey in recovery. Many other clergy and religious are also
involved head on in addressing the problems of addiction and substance abuse,
both in the Church and society at large.
Alaskans are no strangers to alcoholism and chemical
dependency problems. Alaska is continually recorded as having among the highest
“amount of alcohol consumption per person ratio” among all 50 states. Although
certainly not limited to Native peoples, among Natives this rate is inordinately
high. An article in the Juneau Empire last year mentioned that in 2010 alcohol
and drug abuse cost Alaska’s economy 1.2 billion dollars. This is a staggering
figure, yet it doesn’t completely communicate the spiritual and moral
diminishment that alcoholism and chemical dependency causes in hearts and souls,
and in homes, families, and communities.
Whether we are recovering addicts or alcoholics, those in
need of recovery, or those who love them, we are called as Catholics to be
evangelized by the love and goodness of Christ, to make disciples, and to
proclaim the Kingdom of God. In Southeast Alaska we have a special obligation
and opportunity it seems, to carry on this tradition of participating as a
Church and as individual Catholics in the liberation of our neighbor, through
the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. As we approach the Synod and examine
our commitment to the Mission of the Church we have to ask ourselves what we can
do to better reach out as the Body of Christ, with love and truth, to those
suffering from painful and debilitating addictions.
Thankfully, it is not a matter of reinventing the wheel,
but instead receiving more fully in what has come before us in terms of the
Catholic tradition of helping alcoholics and addicts. We must trust that the
Christian faith is important to complete moral and spiritual recovery and that
we have something immeasurably good to share with those suffering from
addictions. We must be willing to meet people in the midst of their bondage and
to accompany them with Christ to freedom.
Under the guidance of the Bishop
and as an aspect of our call to be missionaries of the love of Jesus we have the
opportunity and obligation to develop an intentional approach to ministry to
persons and families affected by alcoholism and addiction. We have to believe
that we can more fully give of ourselves to those trapped by the bondage of
addiction in Southeast Alaska by introducing here Catholic movements such as the
Calix Society, the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association for the Sacred Heart of
Jesus and Catholic resources such as the writings of Fr. Ralph Pfau, the Guest
House, the National Catholic Council on Addictions. Also, we must become aware
of, and better understand, how to introduce people to the places of recovery
that are already established in our communities, such as 12-step meetings,
inpatient and outpatient programs, and Native resources.
