Cash-Strapped Church in Italy Asks Parishoners For Lottery Tickets
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Getty Images(CIGOLA, Italy) — A cash-strapped church in Italy puts its fate in the hands of Lady Luck.
A priest at one desperate parish in Italy’s north has asked parishioners to put scratch-and-win lottery cards instead of money into the offering box.
The small church of San Martino in Cigola posted a notice on its church door urging members to put aside theological moralizing and to just “smile” and donate a lottery ticket. Any winnings will go to repairing the church roof and oratory.
But not everyone grinned.
Gambling is a major addiction in Italy. A study by the Economist found that that one third of all the world’s games machines and one fifth of all its scratch cards are sold here in Italy.
Last year alone, Italian gamblers lost about 18 billion dollars to bookmakers causing heartache and hardship for thousands of Italian families.
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