Alberta bishops against gambling.

In a pastoral letter dated January 12 and called The False Eden of Gambling the five Alberta Catholic bishops said:

a) that video lottery terminals (VTL's) should be banned;

b) that research should be done on how much of the money spent on gambling is really disposable money;

c) that governments, who profit greatly, should help gambling addicts and deter addiction.

Two weeks later, the pastoral letter led the Premier of Alberta, Ralph Klein, to describe as "hypocritical" those churches and individuals who would accept VLT funds for community projects while objecting to the terminals on moral grounds. The new bishop of Calgary, Frederick Henry, called this "a cheap shot."

Still, the Premier's "shot" was well made. The Calgary bishop didn't think any churches had accepted lottery money. But as the Premier pointed out, St. Stephen's Ukrainian Catholic Church had accepted a grant of $85,000 to construct a cultural centre. Fr. Randall Yakimec, the pastor, and the parish promptly returned the money.

Bishop Henry pointed out that the Catholic Church doesn't oppose bingos or other games of chance, but she does oppose gambling that harms families which use gambling money meant for groceries or basic food needs. (Globe, Jan. 30, '98)

The pastoral letter and the Klein-Henry exchange may well revitalize an earlier campaign against gambling which had become dormant. It may also encourage people in other provinces to oppose more casinos and VTL's.