The Majority Favor “An Immoral Practice”

When the members of a Greek Orthodox Church in Schenectady, New York, voted 43 to 13 to start bingo at the church, the parish priest opposed, saying: “I don’t believe the church should introduce any form of gambling in order to survive.” So he resigned, giving as his reason: “I have no doubt our hall would be packed for bingo. It’s not packed for a lecture or religious instruction. If I have a church and 30 people come to worship and 500 come to bingo, then for what reasons does the church stand? It is just a social club.”

The resignation caused the archbishop in New York city to send a strongly worded letter to the local parish council. “We paternally recommend and urge you to refrain from introducing bingo in your parish,” said the letter. “It is an immoral practice.” What was the council’s response? “The archdiocese turns its head. They say you shouldn’t do it, but churches do.” The fact is that about 50 of the 500 Greek Orthodox parishes in the United States have the “immoral practice.”