Catholicism Everywhere: From Hail Mary Passes to Cappuccinos

We are pleased to share Dr. Helen Hoffner’s new book Catholicism Everywhere: From Hail Mary Passes to Cappuccinos- How the Catholic Faith is Infused in Culture by Sophia Institute Press.

Time for Play: The Catholic Connection to Chess, Monopoly, and Bingo

In this busy world, do you take time to play?  When you engage in games such as chess, Monopoly, and bingo, you are following the advice of Catholic leaders who have urged a healthy balance of work and play.    There is a Catholic connection to popular games and it was formed by St. Teresa of Avila, Pope Paul VI, and many priests and bishops.

Chess had a favorable reputation in the early days of the Catholic Church.   Genodio de Astorga, a saint and the Bishop of Astorga from 909 to 919 A.D., wanted his staff to learn the game because it encouraged concentration that enabled one to focus upon God.  In 1061, however, Petrus Damiani, an Italian cardinal, wrote to Pope Gregory VII expressing his view that chess was an evil game with ties to witchcraft.  Cardinal Damiani was horrified that priests were seen sitting at gameboards in public.  His efforts led to chess being placed on a list of games forbidden to members of the clergy and monastic orders.  Until 1299, Catholic priests were forbidden to play chess and the game was considered evil for all.  

Views changed over time and by 1420, Catholic clergymen valued chess as a way to develop concentration rather than as an act of luck, gambling, or sorcery.  Pope Leo X, leader of the church from 1513 to 1521, was known to be an enthusiastic chess player.   In the late 1500s, St. Teresa of Avila, patron saint of chess, taught a soldier to play to keep his mind free of impure thoughts. 1

In the 1960s, Pope Paul VI suggested that children should be taught to play chess so that when they entered adulthood, they could meet citizens of every land over gameboards rather than battlefields. 2   

Thirty years before Pope Paul VI encouraged chess, a bishop in Salem, Massachusetts helped Monopoly become the world’s best known board game.  

In 1888, George Parker and his brothers, Charles and Edward, made board games in their home.  When their first game, Banking, began to sell very well, the brothers established a business which they appropriately named Parker Brothers.  

Parker Brothers flourished until 1929 when America’s Great Depression stalled sales of the Banking game. The company almost went bankrupt and desperately needed a new product. They found Charles Darrow, an unemployed steam-heat repairman selling copies of his homemade game, Monopoly.  Darrow had a patent for his Monopoly game but it was highly similar to the Landlord’s Game developed earlier by Elizabeth Magie-Phillips who had also patented her work.  The Parker brothers purchased the patents from both Charles Darrow and Elizabeth Magie-Phillips and began producing their own version of Monopoly.

Parker Brothers’ game of Monopoly was a success because its lure of riches brightened the spirits of Americans suffering through the depression.  The game became so popular that Parker Brothers had difficulty producing enough. They needed to keep their printing presses running twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to meet the demand.  Workers of the 1930s, however, were reluctant to work on Sundays.  Parker Brothers, located in Salem, Massachusetts, asked the Catholic diocese to grant permission for their employees to work on Sunday to produce the games.  The request was granted and Catholics in Salem made the games that boosted the local economy and put food on their tables.  Local Catholics leaders joyfully approved the game that brought financial stability to their congregations. 

Financial stability was also the goal of the priest who brought bingo to Catholic parishes.   

Circa 1530, an early form of bingo known as Lo Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia, was popular in Italy.  In 1929, Edwin Lowe, an American toymaker, saw carnival goers in the United States playing a similar game so he decided to market it.  Lowe’s version was called Beano.  Each player was given a card that contained numbers.  When the game’s leader called out a number, players covered it on their cards with beans.  The first player to cover five numbers in a row called out, “Beano”, and was declared the winner.  

Beano caught the attention of a priest from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania who wanted to raise funds for his parish school.  The priest contacted Edwin Lowe and together they refined the cards to make Beano a profitable activity for the church.  According to legend, one night a player was so excited to win that she could barely say the word Beano.  She yelled “Bingo” and that became the new name of the game. 3

Bingo was very popular in the early 1930s but some feared that it would lead to gambling.  New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia placed a temporary ban on bingo in 1938 because he thought crime leaders would become involved in the games that were held in the social halls of churches and synagogues as well as in movie theatres.  New York State passed legislation stating that bingo could only be played in churches or synagogues with the proceeds going to charity.  In 1942, the Archdiocese of New York stopped hosting bingo games in their parishes but bingo spread throughout the remainder of the United States.  Parishes held weekly bingo parties and encouraged participants to socialize during breaks in the games.   

Throughout the years, Catholics have questioned whether churches should encourage games of chance such as Bingo. The Catechism of the Catholic Church does not forbid gambling.  Canon 2413 states, “Games of chance (card games, etc.) are not in themselves contrary to justice.  They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others”. 4

Throughout the years, bingo has brought not only financial stability but also fellowship to Catholics around the world.  Getting together for Bingo games enables Catholics to share good news about their parishes and their faith. 

The Catholic leaders who brought the games of chess, Monopoly, and bingo to our lives deserve our thanks for refreshing our spirits and helping us unite as Catholics in joy.  They showed us the Catholic connection between work and play and helped us realize that we can bring Catholicism everywhere.  

Endnotes

1. Chess and Spiritual Life, https://lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/chess-and-spiritual-life 
2. Catholics and Chess, http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/articles/Catholic.htm
3. Bellis, M. (2020, August 26). Bingo: History of the Game. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-bingo-4077068
4. Canon 2413, The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Chicago, Loyola University Press, 1994).

Author Bio – Dr. Helen Hoffner

Dr. Helen Hoffner is the author of Catholicism Everywhere: From Hail Mary Passes to Cappuccinos- How the Catholic Faith is Infused in Culture, Catholic Traditions and Treasures: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, and the co-author of The Rosary Collector’s Guide.  She is a professor at Holy Family University where she chairs doctoral dissertation committees and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses.   Dr. Hoffner is a member of the Domestic Schools Advisory Board of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and has written many books and articles for elementary and secondary teachers.