The appeal from the Team of the Polish Bishops’ Conference for the Apostolate of Sobriety and People with Addictions is simple: don’t drink in August—and preferably don’t drink at all!
According to the bishops, sobriety is to be a test of Catholics’ responsibility for their families, the Church and their homeland.
– To courageously defend independence and inner freedom. For they are closely connected with each other. Poland will preserve its independence only when it is a land of internally free people—the clergy stress the importance of abstinence in their appeal.
The bishops see a problem in the bottle containing alcohol. Statistics on alcohol consumption in Poland remain alarming. The average Pole consumes around 11 litres of pure alcohol annually, while regular alcohol abuse is widespread. It is alarming that an average of 110 people die every day because of alcohol.
The excessive number of alcohol outlets, with approximately one for every 300 residents, further deepens the problem. Last year, spending on alcohol exceeded 50 billion zlotys.
The bishops are also concerned by the low age of alcohol initiation among young people, who begin drinking as early as between the ages of 12 and 16. These figures indicate an urgent need to undertake comprehensive preventive and educational measures aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and its negative consequences in society.
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Why, according to the bishops, is August a good month for sobriety?
August in the Polish calendar stands out for its particular concentration of historical anniversaries and Marian holidays, the clergy explain.
This month poses a challenge to contemporary generations, obliging the faithful, on the one hand, to protect historical memory and, on the other, to defend the Christian identity of the nation.
The defence of independence and inner freedom appears as an inseparable whole. August, the month of voluntary abstinence, under the slogan “Responsible for sobriety,” reminds us of this fundamental dependence, calling for responsibility for sobriety—both personal and that of society as a whole—as a necessary condition for preserving true freedom and independence.