Churches Like Powerball Millions

13.08.2003, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «Churches Like Powerball Millions».

Las Vegas--David Edwards plunked down his $8, pocketed his Powerball tickets and did what millions of other Americans did last weekend — called on a higher power.Now, $73.7 million richer, Edwards, of Kentucky, is a true believer. "Help me, Lord," he later said he prayed. "I know it might not be right of me to ask you this, but can you just let me win this?"

Now, $73.7 million richer, Edwards, of Kentucky, is a true believer — the first thing he did after winning was thank Jesus and God, in that order, for his good fortune. There's always been a touchy relationship between church and chance, and today, with legal gambling a $500 billion-a-year industry nationwide, it's touchier than ever. Yes, to many evangelical Christians. No, to many others, including Catholics, who jokingly refer to bingo as their eighth sacrament.

In fact, the Catholic Church's catechism (teaching guide) says gambling becomes "morally unacceptable" if and when it deprives gamblers of money necessary for the needs of others.

Hundreds of churches and synagogues in the New York area hold weekly bingo games, promote raffles and sponsor casino nights. At least 60 advertise in the monthly Bingo Bugle of Long Island, where publisher Dennis Conroy calls bingo a "fabulous, booming" business. The most devout even carry images of St. Cayetano into their parish social halls, gymnasiums and church basements on bingo nights.

Well, the saint is real. St. Cayetano, who was canonized in 1671, is known in Spanish-speaking countries as the patron of bread, labor and the unemployed. He was a priest in Naples who, among things, founded what now is the Bank of Naples. His credentials as patron of gambling are based on the story that people who needed a favor would bet him their rosary or a blessed candle that he would not do it. He almost always did the favor and won the bet.

Cayetano is not very well known. "You're kidding," said Joseph Zwilling, the (non-bingo playing) spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York. Critics of wagering point out that there's also a saint whose name is invoked to stop compulsive gambling. He is Camillus de Lellis, a 16th century monk who saw the light after, it is said, he literally lost his shirt in a card game.

Several years ago, the late John Cardinal O'Connor said during a Sunday homily at St. Patrick's Cathedral that he would like to see parishes become less dependent on bingo money. The uproar landed him on page one, tied up his telephone line and left him shaking his head. "I should have stuck with something not so controversial," he supposedly said. "Like abortion or gay rights."

Scores of city churches depend on bingo to cover the cost of everything from heating bills to sports and arts programs. Because of the way books are kept, nobody knows for sure how much bingo brings in, but one archdiocesan official says $75,000 a year is not unusual for some big parishes. Still, says Msgr. Dennis Keane, chairman of the archdiocese's Inter-Parish Financing Commission, bingo is losing ground. Some parishes have cut their bingo schedule in half, he says. It isn't just competition from casinos, the state's many lottery games or even the new phenomenon of video gambling. One reason for the decline, Keane says, is the no-smoking rule in social halls and gyms. "You can smoke in Atlantic City," says Keane, who also is pastor of our Lady of Good Counsel on the upper East Side, which runs a weekly bingo game for about 100 people. Overall, he says, bingo revenues in the archdiocese are down 25% in the past five years — to $2.2 million from a peak of $3.2 million. "The problem, besides no smoking, is that there are no longer enough volunteers to run bingo games," Keane says.

He says that at his own church, bingo revenue makes the difference between a budget surplus and a deficit, but that the main benefit of the game is as a social activity. Keane says most bingo players do not spend "too much" to play. "If they spend $25 night," he says, "that is really splurging."

Über Glücksspiele Las Vegas - Gambling in Las Vegas:

Las Vegas liegt im Westen der USA im Bundesstaat Nevada und ist das Glücksspiel-Paradies von Amerika.

Las Vegas hat rund 100 Spielcasinos. Im Bundesstaat Nevada sind sogar über 300 Spielcasinos registriert. Die grössten Casinos sind das Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Venetian / Palazzo, Wynn / Encore, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay.

Weitere bekannte Casinos sind das Mirage, frühere Heimat von Siegfried und Roy, das Luxor in Form einer Pyramide oder das Casino Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, in welchem jährlich die Pokerweltmeisterschaft (World Series of Poker WSOP) durchgeführt wird.

Die bekanntesten zwei Strassen sind der Las Vegas Boulevard, welcher auch als Las Vegas Strip bezeichnet wird. Daneben ist die Fremont Street eine gut besuchte Casino-Meile, wo beispielsweise das legendäre Casino Binion's (vormals Binion's Horseshoe) seine Spiele anbietet.

Las Vegas erstreckt sich über eine Fläche von 340 km2 und hat rund 650'000 Einwohner.

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