Pope praises recovering drug addicts

Recovering drug addicts, guitar-strumming youths and cloistered nuns on Saturday welcomed Pope Benedict XVI into rural Brazil, where he warned narcotics traffickers that they face the wrath of God for unleashing a deadly scourge across Latin America.

Pressing a crusade that has attacked extramarital sex, abortion and hedonism, Benedict congratulated the addicts for kicking their habits but said that for full recovery they must also heal their souls.

“Reintegration in society undoubtedly demonstrates the effectiveness of your initiative,” he said. “Yet it is the conversions, the rediscovery of God and active participation in the life of the church that attract even greater attention and that confirm the importance of your work.”

The pope was speaking at Fazenda da Esperanca (Farm of Hope), part of a chain of rehab farms that was founded by a Franciscan friar in Brazil and has spread to countries around the world. It is run by a religious order that emphasizes discipline and faith and requires members to tend gardens and milk cows as part of therapy.

This orchestrated appearance at a relatively affluent center was the only direct contact the pope will have with ordinary people during his five-day pilgrimage to the world’s largest Roman Catholic country. He heard testimonials from five people about lives broken by cocaine or alcohol, hugged a weeping woman and shook hands with dozens of excited followers.

One of the testimonials came from Sylvia Hartwich of Berlin, who described an ordeal of bulimia, drugs and attempted suicide. Her voice cracking, she thanked the program for saving her and said she now volunteers for the German branch of the farm system.

“Now I’m a light for other girls,” she told the pope.

Benedict reserved his sharpest attack for drug traffickers, whose turf wars have bloodied neighborhoods from Brazil to Mexico. He ordered them to “reflect on the grave harm” they are inflicting on all levels of Latin American society.

“God will call you to account for your deeds,” he said. “Human dignity cannot be trampled upon in this way.”

The center of Benedict’s attention in this region about 100 miles from Sao Paulo is the sanctuary of the Aparecida, a shrine to the Virgin Mary that is visited by millions of people a year. He led a rosary at the imposing red-brick basilica dedicated to a black image of the mother of Jesus, “Our Lady Who Appeared,” the patron saint of Brazil.

According to legend, Brazilian fishermen were suffering a dry spell in the mid-18th century when they netted a statue of Mary. Suddenly the fishermen began catching a bounty. Later other miracles were attributed to her, and eventually the site was declared an official shrine.

The town of Aparecida, which receives the droves of pilgrims paying homage to the Virgin, is spread out on a hillside, with the basilica dominating the horizon.

The town is a collection of ramshackle market stalls and tacky storefronts where a few reals, the local currency, can get you a statue of the Virgin of Aparecida in just about any size, or a key chain, refrigerator magnet or T-shirt bearing the image.

The Virgins that plug in and light up, however, cost a little more.

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wilkinson@latimes.com