Glory to Jesus Christ!

Dears in Christ,

I appeal  to you concerning a very painful but important matter.  When a person who is dear to you is addicted to alcohol – a disease that causes trouble and suffering, life with such a person leaves its painful mark on everyone around – wife, husband, children, parents and friends.  That is why alcoholism is a family disease, family members "suffer from alcoholism of the alcoholic".  There are very real physiological and behavioral consequences of this disease, characteristic of most family members of alcoholics, namely:

• psychosomatic diseases -- neurosis, insomnia, angina, migraine, hypertension, infertility, oncology,
• neglect of the needs of other family members, rare and poor expression of love for them,
• aggression towards other family members, especially to children (for example from the mother - the wife of an alcoholic), which is manifested in many trivia. Therefore, children feel constant pressure from her,
• frequent accusations of other family members in that they do nothing to help the addict (actually, "anesthetize"),
• development of a sense of exclusivity ("If not me, then who"),
• total feeling of distrust,
• inner loneliness and emptiness; feeling that "no one understands or hears me, does not appreciate my sacrifice for the sake of all",
• development of excessive custody of children, that suppresses the formation of them as individuals and leads, together with the above, so that children grow up with a weak capability to create a healthy family,
• frequent depression, despair.

Repeatedly the faithful appeal to the priests of our Eparchy with a desperate request: "Help stop drunkenness in our family".  Today I appeal to all of you and offer a helping hand.  If you are experiencing these problems, we are ready to help through the organization of communication and creation of anonymous groups.  Given the quarantine situation, we can begin by arranging such meetings online, and therefore, dependent on the quarantine situation, to open our Churches for in-person communication.  The principle of anonymity will be maintained during all meetings.

Everyone who needs help and interested in this topic, please call:

+1 773 556 9360 (WhatsApp, Viber) – ask for Iryna 

I entrust to the pastors and administrators of the parishes of St. Nicholas Eparchy to place this letter in the parish bulletin and share it with the faithful.

The blessing of the Lord be upon you!

Benedict

Bishop of the Eparchy of St. Nicholas