“Gambling becomes morally unacceptable when people permit it to dominate their own life, depriving them and their families of the necessary resources for living”, says a statement put out by the archdiocese of Glasgow, with reference to plans for a “supercasino” in the city. The Catholic Church recognises “the project’s positive potential in terms of boosting tourism, creating new jobs and helping the regeneration of a socially disadvantaged area”, but emphasises that these aspects “must be balanced against the possible negative impact, especially the danger of adding another form of dependence – that of gambling – to the list of dependencies that already cripple the lives of so many citizens”. According to the archdiocese, the Town Council “must open a wider consultation to take into consideration the possible social impact of a new and bigger facility of this type on the social and family life of many citizens and seek a larger consensus on what path to take”.
