Church & Bingo?
When casino player David Edwards put down his $8, got his
Powerball tickets and looked upon the god almighty, gosh, did
that pay off!!! With $73.7 million in his pocket, Edwards
couldn't be filled with more gratitude towards lottery, bingo
and the wonderful world of gambling!
Believe it or not, to many evangelical Christians including
Catholics, bingo is jeeringly known as their eighth sacrament.
What is important to note though is that the Catholic Church
teaches that betting becomes ethically intolerable as soon as it
denies gamblers of wealth essential for the deprived.
Hundreds of churches and synagogues in the New York area witness
the events of weekly bingo games, raffles and funded casino game
evenings in their own halls and centers. Although the theme
behind these on
line bingo nights is socialization and meeting new people,
the underlying principle is still gambling. People are so
fanatic that they ever take pictures of St. Cayetano to their
rural community social halls, exercise rooms on bingo nights,
hoping that this will bring them some good fortune.
St. Cayetano, a supporter of bread, labor and the jobless was a
pastor in Naples who founded the Bank of Naples. People who
desired a good turn would bet him their rosary or a holy candle,
but St. Cavetano always proved them wrong and won the bet.
Bingo is a reliable source for most city churches to cover up
the cost of most services. According to news sources,
approximately $75,000 annually isn't strange for several big
parishes. Where some parishes are benefiting from Bingo, there
are others who deny its popularity.
It was learnt from Dennis Keane, chairman of the archdiocese's
Inter-Parish Financing Commission that bingo is losing ground
and few parishes have slashed their bingo agenda almost
partially.
It has also been noted that bingo revenues in the archdiocese
have fallen to 25% in the past five years -- to $2.2 million
from a peak of $3.2 million. The reason for this is mainly
attributed to the reduction of volunteers to run bingo games.
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