Archbishop of Sydney

His Eminence,
Cardinal George Pell
Cardinal Priest of the Title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello

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Home > Our Archbishop > Homilies 2003 > Article	Printable Version

Alcohol

St Mary's Cathedral

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
27 July 2003

Last year one of our Catholic boys’ schools from a prosperous Eastern suburb provoked a wave of public comment and criticism when a year 12 break-up at Bondi degenerated into a drunken brawl causing $80,000 worth of damage. Ten boys were eventually charged; the seven under 18 years were cautioned and the three others were given good behaviour bonds. The club which served them the alcohol was closed for 72 hours; hardly a drastic penalty.

We have every reason to be worried about the level of alcohol consumption through every age level in society and any criticism of young people involves some level of criticism for those of us who are older and whose example the young ones follow. It is all too easy to criticise generations, any generation except the one to which we belong and that is not my intention. Neither am I prepared to defend the indefensible and the youngsters involved let themselves down first of all, as well as their parents and school.

But we should beware lest we enjoy the lapses and misfortunes of others too much. The media are full of bad news, because there is a greedy market for this. If people consistently showed they did not want too much of this muck-raking, the market would eventually prevail and there would be less of it and more good news. That is not the situation.

About sixteen hundred years ago St. Augustine in Christian North Africa wrote about the characteristics of people without hope. He explained that the less attentive people are to their own sins, the more they pry into the sins of others. They seek, he said, not what they can correct, but what they can criticize. And all know that it is much easier to criticize others, often from a lofty moral position than to continue the hard work of self improvement, correcting our own faults.

At the time last year I did not comment publicly on this sad public lapse, but I am now happy to commend the authorities of this school for a unique contribution they have made to public discussion. They truly are, as Christians must strive to do, bringing good out of bad.

The school commissioned a survey, conducted by two researchers from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, on the alcohol consumption of every student, parent and teacher at the school. This is the first such survey in Australia. Equally brave and equally praiseworthy is the fact that last week they published their findings.

Sixty five percent of students reported at least one binge drinking episode, defined as more than five drinks at a session, the medical limit for adult females. Three percent drink alcohol every day and about ten percent drink at least three times a week. All of these, I remind you, are still at school.

All in all the survey found that about one student in five was a heavy drinker and there was a strong correlation between a lot of drinking and the amount of money from work or pocket money available to these young individuals (generally about $30 a week).

The rise of part-time work for secondary and tertiary students is good in many ways, developing a sense of responsibility and independence. But this work is interfering with university studies, cutting into time, energy levels and many of the side benefits that can accompany university life. At secondary school parents should watch how such money is being used and watch what is happening at weekends.

A couple of additional points were also worrying. Nearly two thirds of the students reported drink driving (whatever that statistic means as most of the boys were too young to be driving). But it shows that despite the heightened awareness against drinking and driving, that it still does occur.

Secondly, the average age for the first full alcoholic drink for students is now just under twelve years of age, four years earlier than that of their parents and teachers. There is no consolation here, because extra maturity is a great help generally in avoiding trouble.

Many adults of my generation are too complacent about the problems alcohol brings. Few Catholics are wowsers. Our Lord himself instructed that wine be used in the Eucharist. Among Irish Australians there is probably less alcoholism than there was and we are more frightened by drug problems; not around in my youth. But alcohol kills more people than any other drug, even if slowly and silently. All of us need to understand the damage alcohol causes, and young people in particular need this information while they are young and impressionable, so they can learn from their elders’ mistakes.

Getting drunk is also morally wrong, because we surrender control of our personalities, making it harder to control our baser instincts. Through drink driving, aggression, verbal or physical, many other people can be hurt. We should not surrender our dignity or modesty to alcohol. Over the years I have sometimes been struck by the fact that a few young Catholics don’t seem to realise that it is morally wrong to get drunk. This useful piece of information should be conveyed to them, with reasons why it is wrong and information about the consequences of alcohol addiction.

The school is to be commended for their survey and the courage to carry it through to publication. They organized parents’ meetings and reorganized the syllabus on the topic.

I hope they provoke wide public discussion because this is not just a Catholic problem.

It is a topic which merits prayer so that we will be wise, discussion across the generations of parents, grandparents and children and good example from the adults.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen