International conference Orthodox Christian Pastoral Care for Persons Suffering with Addictions, Brâncoveanu Monastery, Sâmbăta de Sus, Romania

Transcription

1 International conference Orthodox Christian Pastoral Care for Persons Suffering with Addictions, Brâncoveanu Monastery, Sâmbăta de Sus, Romania The Romanian Patriarchate has declared 2012 as the year dedicated to the Mystery of the Holy Unction and caring for the sick in the Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC). A distinctive category of the sick is made up of the psychotropic substance (alcohol, nicotine, drugs) users and the persons who display dependent behaviours, whose growing prevalence and incidence is of great concern for our society. In 2008, the Romanian Orthodox Church initiated a National Anti- Drug Program, whose stated goal was the establishment of counselling centres, the training of professionals in the area of addictions, and information sessions embedded in the Pastoral courses of the Theological Institutes and the Religion classes taught in schools/high schools ( The implementation of this program is difficult due to lack of a specific pastoral approach. Although the Church has always been presumed to be a sort of hospital for those who suffer from the physical and spiritual consequences of sin, her traditional way of equating addictions with passions pays little attention to both their specificity and their epidemiological aspects. Then again, the secular approaches (psychological counselling, medical treatment) that are founded on materialistic perceptions of the human constitution, completely ignore the treasury of wisdom of the Holy Tradition, which sees the cure for addictions as a process of dispassion. Also, the third kind of approach, i.e. the areligious spirituality of the 12 Steps and other like programs inspired by the Alcoholics Anonymous movement, whose salutary intervention becomes increasingly visible within the East-European ex-communist bloc, raises the issue of relationship between the search for God and the sacramental and ecclesial life of the church community. Within this context, the Theological Institute Andrei Şaguna in Sibiu, under the patronage of the Metropolitanate of Transylvania, has decided to organize an international conference on the role that the clergy and the parishes have in assisting the recovery of the persons that suffer from addictions, between October 16-17, Partners for this event were: the National Anti- Drug Program of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the St. Nicholas Counselling 284

2 and Rehabilitation Centre for Persons Addicted to Alcohol and Other Drugs in Iaşi, and St. Dimitrie Basarabov Program for Addiction Education and Counselling in Romania, Cluj-Napoca. The conference, entitled Orthodox Christian Pastoral Care for Persons Suffering with Addictions, and was held at the Cultural Academy of the Brâncoveanu Monastery in Sâmbăta de Sus. The participants approximately 60 Orthodox Christians from Romania and from abroad, both clergy, and medical and well-fare professionals gathered there to examine the way in which the best medical, psychological and social approaches of the addiction phenomenon may be assimilated into the revealed wisdom concerning passions and spiritual revival. Whereas its preset task was to explore various professional experiences and opinions, the conference came also as an attempt to identify the ways in which the Church could use in her current and prospective pastoral praxis, the integrative approach theoretical models, such as the Minnesota bio-psycho-social-spiritual model that targets the therapy of addictions, and the Total suffering model that is characteristic to palliative care. The main topics of the conference focused on the biospiritual, the psycho-spiritual, and the socio-spiritual dimensions of the addiction; each of these aspects were debated upon both from a theoretical and an empirical perspective. It is worth mentioning that this international conference was preceded by another event that was also significant for the National Anti-Drug Program. On October 15, the same venue hosted the National Symposium Pro people, closer to God. It was organized by the Archbishopric of Sibiu in partnership with the National Anti-Drug Agency - the Centre for Prevention, Evaluation and Anti-drug Counselling in Sibiu, and held in the presence of the administration of the two institutions (Vicar Bishop Andrei Făgărăşanu of the Archbishopric of Sibiu; quaestor Sorin Oprea general manager of NADA). Other participants were: a number of agents from the Centres for Prevention, Evaluation and Anti-drug Counselling in Sibiu and Alba, faculty members of the Orthodox Theological Institutes in Sibiu and Alba-Iulia, as well as doctors, psychologists, local authorities, priests and protopopes from the counties of Sibiu, Braşov, Alba, Hunedoara and Arad. In his message for the meeting, His Eminence, Ph.D Prof. Laurenţiu Streza, Metropolitan of Ardeal, stated: We are deeply aware of the fact that our specific missionary, pastoral and social activity can produce optimal results only when done through inter-professional cooperation, human solidarity, and especially through common prayer to God, our Source of life and health. That is why our eparchy will endeavour through its Social Department to implement and develop special programs against substance abuse, and to encourage as many servants of the Church as possible to take part in specific prevention activities and to adopt a Church and Ecumenical News 285

3 healthy lifestyle, which is good both for the human body, and the soul. The central themes of the meeting were: Drugs, the reality of a complex phenomenon and The role of the partnership between Church and state. There were further presentations of other projects done in partnership with the Centre for Prevention, Evaluation and Anti-drug Counselling in Sibiu and the Metropolitanate of Sibiu, such as: Pro people, closer to God, Drug-free through faith, Encampments and youth. An emphasis was placed on the need to sign a nation-wide collaboration protocol between the NADA and the Romanian Patriarchate. (See further details at The international conference had as special guests a few representative figures of the Orthodox community, who are active in fields that intersect with the domain of addictions: Fr. Vasileios Thermos Orthodox theologian, priest, psychiatrist for children and adolescents in private practice, member of the Committee for Marriage and Family within the Orthodox Church of Greece. Daniel B. Hinshaw, MD Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan Health System, and in the Department of General Surgery at the Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Medical Centre, professor of Christian Bioethics at the St Vladimir Theological Seminary, New York. Jane Hinshaw, MD Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Health System, and Staff Psychiatrist at the Mental Health Clinic at Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Medical Centre. Eugene Protsenko, PhD Neuropsychologist, substance abuse counsellor, founder and director of the Old Word rehabilitation program near Moscow. Radu Andrei, MD Psychiatrist with competence in toxicodependence, chief doctor at the Department of Toxicodependence, Socola Psychiatry Clinic Hospital, Iaşi, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Petre Andrei University of Iaşi. Floyd Frantz Counsellor in addictions, full time missionary in Romania on behalf of the Orthodox Christian Mission Centre, founder and director of the St. Dimitrie Basarabov Program for Education and Addictions Counselling in Romania. Fr. Iulian Negru Chairman of the Department of Mission, Statistics, and Pastoral Forecast of the Orthodox Archbishopric of Iasi, founder and director of the St. Nicholas Centre for the Counselling and Rehabilitation of Persons Dependent on Alcohol and Other Drugs, coordinator of the National Pastoral Program against Drugs of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The conference was held in three sessions, and hosted the following presentations: Addiction and person: a psychological and theological approach (inau- 286

4 gural speech by Fr. Vasileios Thermos); The Orthodox Christian pastoral care for the persons who suffer from addictions. A bio-spiritual examination. (Jane and Daniel Hinshaw), Bio-psycho-behavioural mechanisms in addictions (Radu Andrei), Spiritual healing and the recovery from addictions (Floyd Frantz), Addiction treatment programs in the Romanian Orthodox Church (Sebastian Moldovan), The Christian therapeutic community in the treatment of addictions (Eugene Protsenko), The principles of pastoral management of addicts (Fr. Iulian Negru). The presentations were intermingled with and followed by debates, where arguments were delivered, among others, by the following: Fr. Florin Smarandi, speaking on behalf of the National Administration of Penitentiaries, Fr. Ciprian-Ioan Staicu, counsellor in the Bishopric of Harghita-Covasna and initiator of a project for the implementation of the first Church-run Orthodox therapeutic community, Assoc. Prof. Fr. Constantin Necula, vice-president of the Blue Cross- Romania, psychologists Alexandru Leşcău and Crina Lupea, from the same association, and Fr. Claudiu Melean, on behalf of the Lord s Army association. The event was concluded with a small-group activity, where the participants answered the following questions: What is the contribution of the Church in the recovery of dependent and codependent persons?, When it comes to the issue of addiction, what responsibilities does the Holy Orders confer a priest, and where do they end? and What is a concrete way to organize an addiction prevention and recovery program at parish level? At the same time with the meeting at Sâmbăta monastery, and coming as a theoretical complement to it, another session of scientific communications took place at the Orthodox Theological Institute in Sibiu. This event was structured around the same topics, and the Sibiu faculty members presented the following papers: Christian living between God s calling and the pleasures of the world, acc. to the first Epistle of St. Peter (Assist. Prof. Daniel Mihoc); The human body, a masterpiece of the Holy Trinity (Assoc. Prof. Fr. Nicolae Moşoiu); Apatheia, the spiritual dependence on God s love (Fr. Assist. Prof. Vasile Bîrzu); The metaphysics of addiction (Assist. Prof. Vasile Chira); Is the concept of addiction present in Saint John Chrysostom s spirituality? (Assist. Prof. Fr. Daniel Buda); From addiction to virtue, through living and being in Christ a philokalic perspective (Assoc. Prof. Ciprian Ioan Streza); The obedience in the view of the Holy Fathers - a means towards dispassion and real freedom (Assoc. Prof. Fr. Ioan Mircea Ielciu); Pastoral principles and catechetical pedagogy precepts in ministering to the addicts (Assoc. Prof. Fr. Constantin Necula); The parish - environment for the ministry to persons addicted to alcohol (Fr. Prof. Aurel Pavel); Breaking the silence: Children in families with alcoholic members (Assist. Prof. Church and Ecumenical News 287

5 Ciprian Iulian Toroczkai); Psycho-pedagogical aspects of the internet addiction (Assist. Prof. Olivia Andrei) and Virtual reality and the addiction phenomenon (Assist. Prof. Corina Grecu). A part of the papers presented during the two events are now under way to be published. The organisational committee would like to thank all the participants, especially the foreign guests, for the efforts they made in order to be present at the event and for their distinguished contributions to the success of the meeting. Our deepest gratitude goes to Prof. Daniel Hinshaw, Ph.D - we thank him for his moral support and excellent theoretical and practical suggestions -, as well as to Fr. counsellor Iulian Negru, coordinator of the National Anti-Drug Program of the ROC, and Fr. Nicolae Rusu, counsellor in the Social Department of the Archbishopric of Sibiu, whom we would like to thank for their constant and efficient organisational support. Thanks are also due to Archimandrites Andrew Vujisic, Ph.D and Meletios Webber, Ph.D, who, although they had to cancel their participation at the last minute, have made their contributions to the event by writing materials of great importance for the topic (Fr. Meletios Webber s paper is published in this volume). Also, we have to thank our tireless Assist. Prof. Ciprian Toroczkai, Ph.D, who was the main moderator of the scientific communications session that came to complete the symposium. Last but not least, our acknowledgement goes to our host, Fr. Archimandrite Ilarion Ursu, the Staretz of the Brâncoveanu monastery in Sâmbăta de Sus. Without his outright generosity, this event would never have happened. Rev. Prof. Aurel Pavel, Assoc. Prof. Sebastian Moldovan 288