As the city council of Toronto, Canada, debated whether to approve a major new casino, a pastoral letter by Cardinal Thomas Collins was published in which he wrote: “Gambling is inherently based on illusion – on promoting the fantasy that it is an easy way to provide a quick solution to finan-cial problems. That is a cruel illusion, and it is not wholesome for governments to promote it.
“Occasional and small-scale gambling can be a legitimate form of entertainment and is not evil. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in the section relating to respect for people and their goods, states that games of chance or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice, but become morally unacceptable when these activities deprive people of what is necessary to provide for their needs and those of others.
“The Catechism notes the power of gambling to enslave. Individuals, the government and charitable organisations can become enslaved by the lure of easy gambling revenue, and that is clearly not healthy.”
Female deacons are not a taboo subject
Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, president of the German Catholic bishops’ conference, said the German bishops were ready to discuss the ordination of female deacons as this issue should not be considered a taboo.
He was commenting after a four-day meeting of the episcopal conference. The bishops also discussed whether it was possible to allow Catholics who divorced and remarried to receive Communion. This issue had been the subject of much debate in the Catholic Church.
Prayer intentions of the Pope for May
The Pope’s general prayer intention for May is: “That administrators of justice may act always with integrity and right conscience.”
His mission intention is: “That seminaries, especially those of mission Churches, may form pastors after the Heart of Christ, fully dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel.”
CCEE backs archbishop
The Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) has expressed its “sincere closeness and solidarity” with Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard of Malines-Brussels.
The CCEE expressed its support after four topless women, members of the radical group Femen, interrupted a lecture by Archbishop Leonard and soaked him with water. The protesters had slogans painted across their bare-breasted chests.
The statement of the European bishops’ conference came after the Catholic bishops of Belgium expressed their dismay at the incident and noted that “a democratic debate on social questions is not possible unless it allows everyone to expound his ideas with mutual respect and freedom of expression”.
The CCEE’s presidency also reaffirmed that it shared the position of the Belgian bishops’ conference.
Cordileone against same-sex marriage
In an interview with USA Today, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, chair of the US bishops’ committee on marriage, said: “To legalise marriage between two people of the same sex would enshrine in the law the principle that mothers and fathers are interchangeable or irrelevant, and that marriage is an institution about adults, not children; marriage would mean nothing more than giving adults recognition and benefits in their most significant relationship.”
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)