Brazilian episcopate makes statement against Gaming Regulatory Framework

The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) has made a statement against the legalisation of gambling in the country.

Brazil.- With expectation growing for Brazil’s Gaming Regulatory Framework to get a vote in the Chamber of Deputies, this month, sectors opposing the proposed law continue to speak against it. The presidency of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) has published a letter against the legalisation of gambling.

The entity reiterates its “non-negotiable position” in disagreement with the mobilisation in the Chamber of Deputies in favour of regulation.

The group wrote: “It is up to us, for ethical and evangelical reasons, to warn that the game causes irreparable moral, social and, in particular, family damage. In addition, compulsive gambling is considered a pathology in the International Code of Diseases of the World Health Organisation. The highly lucrative system of the game has its most perverse side in the person who suffers from this compulsion.”

They also wrote: “Arguments that this release will increase tax collection, favour job creation and help get Brazil out of the current economic crisis, follow the repugnant thesis that the end justifies the means. 

“These false arguments do not contemplate the possibility of associating gambling with money laundering and organized crime. Several state institutions have warned that casinos can easily become instruments for the proceeds of criminal activities to assume the appearance of legitimate profits and income.”

The group called on the National Congress to “reject this project and any other initiative that seeks to regulate gambling in Brazil. A vote in favour of the game will, in practice, be a vote of contempt for life, family and its fundamental values.”

“Particularly in this electoral year, the CNBB is committed to closely following this process and widely disseminating the names of parliamentarians who decide to leave their traces in this criminal affront to the Brazilian people.”

The letter is signed by D. Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo (Archbishop of Belo Horizonte – President); D. Jaime Spengler (Archbishop of Porto Alegre, RS – 1st Vice President); D. Mário Antônio da Silva (Bishop of Roraima, RR – 2nd Vice President); and Monsenhor Joel Portella Amado (Auxiliary Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, RJ – General Secretary).

See also: The Gaming Regulatory Framework will be discussed in February in Brazil