One of the most moving encounters of the week was the one that Pope Leo had with participants of the International Day Against Drug Abuse.
The Pope lamented about the fact that the main traffickers usually walk away with clean hands.
POPE LEO XIV
Too often, in the name of security, war has been waged against the poor, filling prisons with those who are merely the last link in a chain of death. Meanwhile, those who hold the chain in their hands manage to maintain their influence and impunity.
At the end, Pope Leo greeted several of the participants for about 20 minutes.
Among them was Italian priest Antonio Coluccia, who openly fights drug trafficking on the outskirts of Rome and must be escorted due to threats against him, including death threats.
Pope Leo XIV’s message against the leaders of organized crime was very similar to the one Pope Francis gave during one of his most recent visits to a prison.
POPE FRANCIS
Many of these prisoners are not the big fish. The big fish have the cunning and stay out. And we must accompany the detainees.
This visit took place at the end of 2024, when he went to the Rebibbia prison in Rome to open a Holy Door there.
JRB
Trans. CRT
