Buffalo Catholic Bishop Edward Kmiec recently sent a letter to the Mayor urging him to oppose a casino for downtown Buffalo, even while many diocesan churches still run bingo and other games of chance.

Diocesan spokesman Kevin Keenan tells NewsRadio 930 WBEN the two are not the same. He says casino gambling has higher stakes; that the money does not serve a higher purpose as Church-sponsored gaming does; that "lives are ruined" by casinos when people who can ill afford to gamble bet their money away; and that the casinos are available 24-hours a day, where Church games are limited.

Keenan says further that bingo halls have never put adjacent businesses out of business, as he says casinos have.

And folks who run and attend church-sponsored lawn fetes tell us the casinos offer "false hope" of big winnings, whereas the smaller-stakes Monte Carlo nights, raffle tickets and pull-tab games of chance do not.