Vatican City: On the World Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Pope Leo XIV offered a profound message of hope, healing, and renewal, assuring all those struggling with addiction that they are not forgotten and that freedom is possible through the mercy of God. Speaking from the San Damaso Courtyard in the Vatican during a special audience, the Pope described drug addiction as an “invisible prison” yet one from which God can and does deliver people, restoring their dignity and purpose.
“Drugs and addictions are like chains that tighten silently,” the Pope said, “but we are not made for captivity. We are made for freedom freedom in Christ.”
Observed annually on June 26, the World Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, established by the United Nations, seeks to spotlight the global challenge posed by narcotics and the illicit networks that traffic them. As the world marks this day with education campaigns, prevention programs, and community healing efforts, Pope Leo urged a “societal awakening” and called for collective action.
“This isn’t just a fight for institutions or governments,” he said. “The entire society needs to rise up. We need your voices, your courage, your stories. Let us create more spaces for healing, for companionship, and for new beginnings.”
Drawing from the Gospel, Pope Leo compared addiction to the emotional and spiritual paralysis that once gripped the apostles, huddled in fear after the crucifixion. He recalled how the Risen Christ entered the locked Upper Room and brought peace to His frightened disciples.
“Jesus didn’t wait for the apostles to find Him,” the Pope said. “He entered their prison of fear. He came to them with peace, forgiveness, and the breath of the Holy Spirit. This is what He offers to every soul held captive by addiction.”
Even when people feel suffocated by life or robbed of their dignity, Pope Leo said, Jesus still comes often through the care of others who refuse to give up on us.
Pope Leo expressed special concern about the systemic roots of addiction, denouncing criminal networks and business models that profit from dependency and destruction. He reminded political leaders that their obligation is not to marginalize victims but to confront the structures of marginalization.
“Our cities don’t need to be cleansed of the broken,” he declared. “They need to be freed from despair. This is our mission: not to discard the wounded, but to walk beside them.”
He emphasized that drug users must not be seen as problems to be removed, but people to be restored with dignity, compassion, and opportunities for renewal.
Quoting Psalm 118 “The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone” Pope Leo reminded listeners that God chooses what the world discards and rebuilds lives from ruins. “God does great things with those He frees from evil,” he said, urging those in recovery not to be ashamed, but to see themselves as chosen stones in a renewed humanity.
“Jesus Himself was crucified outside the gates, rejected by His own,” the Pope noted. “But on that rejection, God built hope for the world. You, too, are precious stones in the construction of a more human, more compassionate world.”
In a rousing call to action, Pope Leo told the young and the recovering: “You are needed not just by the Church, but by education, by politics, by the world.” He urged them to rise from despair, not as spectators, but as protagonists of renewal.
“The culture of encounter is the only path to real security,” the Pope insisted. “Together, by overcoming addiction, we affirm the inviolable dignity of every person. No one is beyond redemption. No one is disposable.”
On this World Day Against Drug Abuse, Pope Leo XIV’s message was clear and profound: even from the deepest darkness, God can bring light. Even from lives marred by addiction, He can write a story of grace.