Why Catholic Bishops say online gambling is a crisis in the Philippines

Catholic Bishops in the Philippines say online gambling has become a new plague or virus that is destroying families, and even causing a kind of slavery. While illegal gambling has always existed in the shadows of society, this new crisis takes place in the smartphones of anyone, including children. The cure to this plague needs to come from every level of society, including at the parish level:

Msgr Pedro Quitorio: “It’s become a sickness. With all these addictions, people, children, teenagers are becoming, you know… some, some we hear news of taking their lives because of this, so much debt.” 

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Today we will learn about the heated issue of online gambling in the Philippines, and what lessons Catholics anywhere might learn from the example there, especially with the rise of online casinos and sports betting in places like the US.

To be clear, the Church doesn’t say all gambling is wrong or sinful–not at all. But when addiction takes over lives, then the hands and feet of Christ on earth need to be mobilized.

Msgr. Pedro Quitorio: “This has become a very strong part now of our new evangelization. It’s a matter of, you know, putting the faith in context now, concretely, by the way people move, because this is affecting even, even our faith, even how we practice our faith.”

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Facing Terror, Finding Hope: Fr. Cirilo Nacorda

How do we know our faith is really faith? It can be easy for us to say we believe something, but if there’s nothing depending on it, is it a deep-seated truth? C.S. Lewis wrote once that it’s easy to believe a rope is strong if you’re just tying a box. But if your life hung by that rope, your faith in it would be tested to a new level.  In this episode, a priest held hostage by Jihadist militants in the Philippines.


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