Deacon Kevin Laughlin and Bill Dougherty are familiar with the pains, sufferings and challenges encountered through alcohol and drug addiction. As well, they are familiar with the triumphs that can come from overcoming obstacles.
Deacon Laughlin has been a recovering alcoholic for the last 34 years. Dougherty’s son has been eight years sober from substance misuse.
Together, they are bringing hope to drug and alcohol addicts and their family and friends through the national organization Calix, which recently opened a chapter at the Church of the Incarnation, Mantua.
For the past month, gatherings have been held via Zoom every Monday night.
The Calix Society, which was established in the 1940s, is not a Catholic AA. The credo of the organization states that participation is open to those “maintaining their sobriety through participation in their Catholic faith and a 12-Step program.”
“This program is a supplement to (programs like Alcoholics Anonymous),” says Dougherty, who helped found the Mantua chapter, adding that the road to healing is continuous and not “days and weeks, but months and years. It’s ongoing but long-term recovery can and does eventually happen for most people.”
“When, and only when, the recovering person achieves some measure of sobriety is he or she ready for Calix,” according to the organization’s website.
“We’re infusing Catholic values, submerging participants in the faith, and making available another piece of the puzzle” that is recovery, he continues, adding that the road to healing is not “days and weeks, but months and years.”
As with other 12-step programs, the anonymous nature of Calix“helps people work up the courage to get (the help) they need,” and voice their struggles instead of silently suffering, he says.
When Dougherty asked Deacon Laughlin to be the chapter’s spiritual advisor, the deacon says he “volunteered immediately, as here was an opportunity to help participants grow and mature in the Catholic faith.”
Deacon Laughlin is a pastoral counselor licensed in New Jersey as a specialist in PTSD, addictions, and family counseling.
“We work to rebuild the person,” he says of Calix.
The Monday meetings include a reading of the program’s Credo, a discussion of the upcoming Sunday Gospel readings, and personal sharing and reflection among its members, growing and strengthening one another on the journey.
The deacon knows that COVID-19 restrictions have been difficult for participants, and is hopeful for the time when members can gather together physically in support of each other.
The Calix chapter of Church of the Incarnation, Mantua, is open to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, those addicted and their family and friends, and anyone concerned with the illness of alcoholism and addiction. For more information, contact Bill Dougherty at 609-617-9959.
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