Faced with this scourge, he recalled the words of St. Peter: “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk [Acts 3:6–7].”
Martínez then encouraged faith, solidarity, and respect: “There are tough neighborhoods, there are some scourges that go out and do their mischief, but there are many decent people who live in those poor neighborhoods, who hold onto values of solidarity, respect, and dignity.”
The effects of drugs lead to “aberrant” behavior, the prelate stated, and “the only way to confront it is in faith, acting on the commitment that we Christians must have, and it’s the call of Pope Francis to be protagonists, to not [look on at a safe distance], as he says” and to face the situation with “your feet in the mud.”
He also referred to the economic instability and uncertainty, a situation that suggests that the only way out is to get on a plane and leave the country.
“We are also dissolving the family nucleus. There are orphaned children with living parents, because the father or mother doesn’t have time, because of work, because of this, because of that… and we see the child as a nuisance, as a burden, and not as a gift from God,” Martínez commented.
In the context of the presidential election campaign in Argentina, the prelate clarified that the solutions to the problems “do not depend only on leaders with charisma but on men with maturity, with depth, who dedicate their lives to the service of the community.”