In a December 29 address to the National Association of Italian Municipalities, Pope Leo XIV called attention to a “sharp increase” in the amount of gambling, which he described as a “scourge,” saying that it “ruins many families.”
The Pope mentioned gambling specifically among the ills that municipal leaders must confront, along with “the demographic crisis and the struggles of families and the young, the loneliness of the elderly and the silent cry of the poor, the pollution of the environment and social conflicts….”