Monday, May 14, 2007

Pope Hears Drug Addicts' Tales, Scolds Traffickers

Former drug addicts have told Pope Benedict XVI moving stories of their hardships and recovery in Brazil.

The Pope also took the opportunity to scold traffickers for the damage they sow across Latin America.

The Pope, on a five-day visit to Brazil in which he has railed against the slack morals and hedonism of modern society, said drug abuse was a scourge in the region.

"I therefore urge the drug dealers to reflect on the grave harm they are inflicting on countless young people and on adults from every level of society," he said in a speech to recovering heroin and cocaine addicts at the Farm of Hope (Fazenda da Esperanca) rehabilitation centre in the rural town of Guaratingueta.

"God will call you to account for your deeds. Human dignity cannot be trampled upon in this way," he said.

Thousands of followers sang and waved flags as the Pope, flanked by bodyguards, then walked through the crowd, smiling and shaking hands.

The drugs trade has caused havoc and bloodshed in Latin America, from Colombia, the world's main source of cocaine, to Brazil, where rival trafficking gangs control many slums.

Although the United Sates was long the key market, Latin American countries suffer from increasing addiction among their own youth, compounding the social woes of poverty and violence.

Rival drug gangs in Mexico have killed about 800 people so far this year in brutal turf wars.

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