Members of the Parish Liaison Network and parishioners gathered
at St. John Neumann Church in Reston April 29 to learn how to respond to the
opioid crisis in their own parishes.
The meeting, hosted by diocesan Catholic Charities, opened with
prayer by Oblate of St. Francis de Sales Father Robert A. Mancini, parochial vicar. Art
Bennett, president and CEO of diocesan Catholic Charities, provided an overview
of what parishes can do and the role of Catholic Charities.
“Parishes are the heart, prayer is the soul, anyone can help but
without prayer we will fail,” said Bennett.
Judy Wetzel, whose son died from opioids, and Margo Chavez,
volunteer manager, provided an overview of Prayer Warrior Teams and how to set
one up in their parishes. Wetzel encouraged attendees to provide the email — hopenotopioids@ccda.net
— to gather prayer requests. “Our hope is that through prayer we will be
successful, that more people will be in recovery than those passing away,” Wetzel
said. “We will send out prayer requests monthly. It will help our families, it
will help all those people with addictions and it will help those people who
are incarcerated.”
Mike Smith, a volunteer at St. John Neumann and a recovering
alcoholic who attended AA in Chicago, said Susan Infeld, a parish nurse at St.
John Neumann, helped him get his Catholic faith aligned with the recovery
programs. “They’ve been on parallel paths but hadn’t been integrated before,”
he said. “All sorts of grace has been happening since we started the addiction
response program at the parish.”
John Palaszczuk, a parishioner of St. Joseph Church in Herndon,
was inspired by the speakers. “I’m involved a little with the Welcome Home
Re-entry Program and I’ve seen how addiction puts people in places where they
don’t want to be,” he said. “Putting the faith together with the need is a very
good thing Catholic Charities does. One of the messages I got today loud and
clear is you have to let God be a part of the help and that’s what makes it
happen.”
Infeld spoke about the parish response and supporting families
with addictions. She said the ministry
is a select group of parishioners committed to helping individuals and families
suffering from disease of addiction. Members are endorsed by the pastor and
parish nurse, and include a nurse, social worker, two members from 12-step
communities, and a member of the Welcome Home Re-Entry prison ministry program.
The program at St. John Neumann focuses on all phases and aspects
of addiction. They receive no fees for their service or provide any
endorsements, and respect confidentiality, according to Infeld.
Sandi Sale, a nurse, social worker and addiction expert, shared
her background working with addicts in hospitals and prisons. She encouraged
attendees to not forget to be there for the families of the addicts. “Our
responsibility is to be there for them also,” she said. “It has to be a joint
effort.”
Sale said the effort must happen quickly. “The thing that’s most
frustrating is that you have a millisecond to catch that addict,” she said.
“The best thing we have to offer is ourselves and we have to connect with them
as quickly as humanly possible.”
Frank Moncher, coordinator of Victim Assistance, provided
attendees with nationwide diocesan trends and spoke about the role the Diocese
of Arlington can play.
Bennett said in his opening presentation that 80 percent of the
problems with addictions start with doctors giving prescriptions and opioids
became radically accessible, said Bennett. “Clinicians, when they talk to
families, they ask if anyone had a major operation in the last two years. They
probably got prescriptions to opioids,” Bennett said.
Unused prescriptions and over the counter drug may be dropped off
at drug stores and fire houses. St. John Neumann offered zipper bags that dispose
of the opioids safely.
Find out more
The next meeting will be Aug. 7 at Good Shepherd Church, 8710 Mount Vernon Hwy., Alexandria.