Roman Catholics warned on 'evils of gambling'CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, March 2 (PNA) -- The Roman Catholic leadership on Thursday warned the “evils of gambling†as it announced its strong opposition to the opening of a gambling casino here.
In a pastoral letter, Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, head of the archdiocese here, said that the “Church cannot turn a blind eye to the negative effects that gambling institutions will create in our society.â€
Ledesma was referring to the proposed operation of a gambling casino near a state university and Our Lady of Manaoag Chapel inside a popular commercial complex here in Lapasan.
In the same letter, Ledesma said that the Roman Catholic Church has already warned its faithful of the “gambling culture,†which leads to the various problems of immoralities.
He said that gambling results in “a culture of enslavement of money and pleasure as a form of addiction, from which many of our people are suffering today and families are victimized.â€
Together with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and other religious leaders, the Archdiocese of Cagayan De Oro has reiterated its stand to denounce illegal gambling in all its forms and prevent its legalization.
It also aims to combat the expansion of organized and systemic legal gambling such as putting up of casinos, and to refrain from soliciting or receiving funds from illegal and legal gambling so as not to promote a culture of gambling.
In 2008, a Korean company’s plan to build a casino-hotel here was thwarted by strong opposition by various sectors.
Sometime in the mid-90s, the Archdiocese of Cagayan De Oro City and then City Mayor Pablo Magtajas also successfully closed a gambling casino, which has started to operate in an uptown hotel here. (PNA)
LAP/NYP/CD/JIGGER J. JERUSALEM
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