Pope urges end to drug war at UN

Pope Francis criticized the global War on Drugs in his address to the United Nations. While the Catholic Church’s Vicar of Christ did not prescribe specific solutions, he spoke plainly the shortcomings of efforts to combat drug trafficking and the effects on everyday citizens. While he didn’t name the country, his remarks could have perfectly described Mexico, where efforts to destroy narco leadership has not made the country more secure. The Vatican leader compared the ongoing violence between narcotics gangs and government anti-narcotics agents to the armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.

After describing his concerns over “systemic violence” in countries like Syria and Ukraine, Pope Francis transitioned to speaking about violence related to the worlds various drug wars.

“Along the same lines I would mention another kind of conflict which is not always so open, yet is silently killing millions of people. Another kind of war experienced by many of our societies as a result of the narcotics trade,” Pope Francis said. 

Pope Francis addresses the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York September 25, 2015. More than 150 world leaders are expected the summit in the next two days. In his remarks, the Pope criticized the global response to the drug war, saying that it had been “poorly fought” and threatened civil and religious institutions.REUTERS/Andrew Kelly