Does the Catholic Church make light of drunkenness. Isn’t it sin ful to cause blind misery and poverty in the home?

The Catholic Church does not make light of so grave a sin. It is an evil which leaves every one of us very miserable indeed. Man has obligations to God, to himself, and to his neighbor. Such drunkenness violates all three obligations. Few things so destroy God’s image and likeness in man as excessive drink. Other vices leave him with reason at least. But, as Father Burke so well said, “Reeling from the hotel, the drunkard has laid the image of God upon die altar of the meanest and most despicable of all devils—gluttony.” As regards himself, the drunkard loses health, respect, friends, happiness, and much else. For if a man dies in almost any other crime, he has his wits about him and can call upon God for mercy and forgiveness. But if he dies in drunkenness, he is incapable even of an act of repentance. And as regards his neighbor, surely first and foremost come his wife, and his children, his parents and other members of his family not to speak of his duty to his employer and professional clients. Yet what greater misery can a man bring upon the woman who confided her youth and heart to him forever, than that which his drunkenness inflicts upon her? And his own children are filled with shame, disgust, and scandal. No prohibitionist can speak more strongly against drunkenness than the Catholic Church; for she has a heart full of compassion for the homes wrecked by this vice, and of indignation that God should be so ofiended.

Radio Replies Volume 1 by Rev. Dr. Leslie Rumble MSC and Rev. Charles Mortimer Carty