In praise

of Bingo
"One armed bandit's"
letter (27-10-61) condemning Bingo is the last straw. My reply is not an attack on Bishop Walsh's pastoral letter, which I have not read, but it is a vindication of the good that does come from parish Bingo games. These games, are, of course, intended to raise funds for parochial needs. Their value does not stop there. They have proved to be, certainly in my parish, the one social occasion where people can meet, with the minimum of formality and at an hour when domestic duties are least affected.
The harm of "uncontrolled greed for worldly goods" that Pope Pius XI warned us of in his encyclical on the Catholic Priesthood, does not appear to have survived at the games in this parish. The prizes are sufficiently low to have dissatisfied the more avid so that they have drifted off in search of bigger fish.
Surely there is nothing debasing about Bingo itself. The bishops in unison have not condemned it, or other forms of amusement, for corrupting souls. Bingo. at the worst. attracts the simple-minded like me. Of course it can he organised so as to debase people in the ways feared. But then the same fears were expressed when parishes introduced other well-established prize-giving games such as lotteries, whist drives and football pools. The same fears of corruption were aroused by parish dances. and in general. cinema and television, as if such forms of amusement were harmful in themselves.
If we are going to hammer Bingo. let's keep to the abuses and eive the reasonable games due credit.
(Mrs.) M. L. Lock.
10, Willows Avenue, Morden.