Dance club owners are 'merchants without souls,' archbishop says

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sep 16, 2009 / 12:09 pm

Archbishop Hector Aguer of La Plata in Argentina is questioning the attitude of parents and night club owners, whom he called “merchants without souls,” amidst the growing problem of alcohol abuse and related violence by young people in the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.
 
“Parents are the ones who have neglected a fundamental responsibility, and then there are the merchants without souls, the owners of the night clubs. Everybody knows this is a business that endangers the physical, psychological and spiritual health of young people,” the archbishop warned in a radio interview.
 
This is a problem that is getting out of control and must be dealt with, the archbishop warned, adding that at the same time, “We mustn’t generalize, because I don’t think that every young person is trapped by the night club culture.”
 
“Staying out all night two or three days per week is insane,” the archbishop said.  “I don’t think one can properly work or study afterwards.”

While he recognized that the problems associated with a night life are complex, he went on to say that club owners ought to “recognize that they should not be selling alcohol or the other ‘little things’ that we know circulate in some night clubs.”
 
“Nighttime is not for having fun all the time, it is an educational issue that depends above all on the family. I suspect that many parents are just as juvenile as their children,” he said.

Archbishop Aguer’s comments came as the State Governor of Buenos Aires State Governor, Daniel Scioli, has increased restrictions on alcohol consumption in public places and is in discussions with night club owners to curb alcohol use at their places of business.