Virginia Bishop Urges Caution on Gambling Amid Push for New Casino

The plan has proved contentious — in part because of fears of decreased property values and increased crime around the casino — and a vote is not expected to happen until 2025 if at all.

Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, recently urged Catholics to treat gambling with caution, reminding the faithful that the Church opposes any gambling that puts a person’s financial stability at risk. 

The impetus for Bishop Burbidge’s remarks, made on the Arlington Diocese’s Walk Humbly podcast, is an effort by some lawmakers to allow residents of Northern Virginia to vote to create a new casino in Fairfax County near Washington, D.C. 

The plan has proved contentious — in part because of fears of decreased property values and increased crime around the casino — and a vote is not expected to happen until 2025 if at all. 

“Addiction is a threat to our freedom … I don’t see the need for casinos in Northern Virginia. But that’s up to the community and elected officials to decide,” Bishop Burbidge said on the Oct. 7 podcast. 

“We all like good fun, and we like to enjoy ourselves, and things like that. That’s fine,” the bishop acknowledged. 

“But never when we’re using the resources God has given us, our hard-earned money, [in] places that could put ourselves and family in great need. So just be vigilant, everyone. Just be prayerful.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “games of chance,” such as card games and wagers, are not “in themselves contrary to justice” (No. 2413).

Gambling becomes morally unacceptable, however, when it deprives a person of “what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others.” 

“The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement,” the catechism notes, adding that cheating at games and making unfair wagers constitute “grave matter, unless the damage inflicted is so slight that the one who suffers it cannot reasonably consider it significant.” 

Bishop Burbidge advised Virginia lawmakers to carefully consider whether a new casio will “cultivate virtue” in the commonwealth. 

“Lawmakers, please don’t forget this — all legislation should make liberty the priority, understood as the freedom of all persons to pursue what is good and virtuous,” the bishop said. 

“So let’s pray on this. Let’s think about it and how we might always work towards progress in virtue and improving our communities.”

The Virginia controversy over the casino comes amid a push in recent years to expand gambling options, particularly sports betting, in numerous states. Made easy and accessible online and on smartphone apps, sports betting has exploded in popularity since a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling opened the door to states legalizing it. 

Americans spent nearly $120 billion on sports betting in 2023, up 27.5% from 2022 and a new record, according to the American Gaming Association’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. The sports-betting industry has been widely criticized for its deleterious effects on those who take part, especially the young.

Notably, Missouri is poised to become the 39th state to legalize sports betting if its citizens approve the practice in the November general election.