The Bishops of Malta and Gozo have urged MPs to consider the harmful consequences of gambling on individuals, families and society when they discuss amendments to the Lotteries and Gaming Act in Parliament.

In a statement, the Bishops said that while recreation was important for people, they were concerned that some people had been drawn to compulsive gambling.

"Gambling is growing at an alarming rate. Such gambling undermines human dignity. This is the fruit of a culture which is losing the true meaning of life and social life, a culture which measures everything by the bottom line and wants to promote only that which yields so-called economic progress," the Bishops said.

Compulsive gambling was as harmful as alcohol and drug dependence. When people lost control over their actions, gambling became inhuman and immoral, the Church leaders said.

"Legislation is democratic when it truly safeguards the freedom of all the members of society. Society is more free when it is able to limit the freedom of the powerful that can be detrimental to the weak," the Bishops said, pointing out that in the case of gambling, addiction weakened the freedom of its victims.

The Bishops warned against forms of gambling which at first glance appeared harmless but which could lead people down the path to harmful gambling. No worthy end could justify such means.

The Bishops said that in the context of proposed new legislation on gambling currently before Parliament, they were urging MPs to act responsibly, mindful of the serious consequences which compulsive gambling could cause on individuals, families and society. MPs should not only consider economic progress, but also the common good.

Source: The Times of Malta

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