‘Drugs are a direct threat to human dignity,’ says Archbishop

Archbishop Peter Loy Chong has dedicated this 40-day Lenten season to the restoration of human dignity through awareness of the harmful effects of illicit drugs.

At the heart of Archbishop Chong’s homily yesterday was a call to transform our lives for God’s purpose, saying that “drugs are a direct threat to the human dignity that God has woven into every one of us”.

Archbishop Chong urged the Catholic congregation to use this Lenten season to pray and donate to the 2026 Lenten Appeal, labelling it a “mission against drugs”.

He said during this Lenten season the Church would run youth workshops across the country, with the goal of training parish youth leaders to carry the awareness message to 37 parishes and villages.

“Drug addiction does not discriminate; it reaches into every part of our society, affecting the rich and the poor, the city and the village alike. When we look at the drug crisis, we see a lethal sickness,” he said.

“It is, of course, a sickness of the body, but more importantly, it is a sickness of the spirit. This spiritual sickness leads a person to want to escape from themselves. It leads them to seek ‘false, short-term satisfactions’ to avoid the inner struggles of life, sometimes to the point where the very meaning of their existence begins to fade away.”

Archbishop Chong said the war against drugs required a holistic approach, not just law enforcement.

“To solve the drug problem, we cannot rely on laws alone. We must bring love back into the centre of our lives. We must restore meaning, purpose and the presence of God.

“We must believe, and we must teach our children to believe, that we are made in the image and likeness of God. When a person truly knows their worth in the eyes of the Creator, they no longer need to escape from reality because they find God within that reality.”

In his Lenten message, the archbishop said the Church’s response must be threefold: prevention, suppression and rehabilitation.

“Prevention is the primary call for us as a community of faith. It begins in the family — the ‘domestic church’.

“We need a ‘therapy of love’ in our homes, our schools and our youth groups. We must restore the human values of love and life so that our young people have a foundation that no drug can shake.

“We must suppress and denounce the sale and abuse of drugs. The Government and lawmakers must create laws and policies against the production, sale and abuse of drugs. Law enforcement agencies must continue and intensify their efforts to stop drug abuse.

“We must help people with drug addiction rediscover their proper human dignity and rebuild their lives.”