What is the Church's stand on drinking and gambling?

[cmacmac11]

A good friend and Christian man has recently started RCIA. He told me this week that he is struggleing with bingo, drinking, and gambling in the Catholic Church. I searched 26 pages of the Q & A and only found wine and alcohol. Any answeres and references would be greatly appreciated. God bless ALL – you’ll never know how much Catholic Answers has helped me!!!

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church on gambling, which includes bingo:

Games of chance (card games, etc.) or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement. Unfair wagers and cheating at games constitute grave matter, unless the damage inflicted is so slight that the one who suffers it cannot reasonably consider it significant (CCC 2413).

And on drinking:

The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air
(CCC 2290).

In short, gambling and drinking are not inherently evil. They become problematic when abused or when indulging in gambling or drinking prevents one from meeting legitimate obligations to himself and to others, especially to family.

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