Frank Dettori opened it earlier today at a church in Newmarket ...
Pic1 |
Pic2 
Paddy Powers Sponsors Church Confession Box
A Catholic church confession box has been sponsored by a bookies.
Paddy Power, the Irish betting firm, has paid £10,000 in the deal with Our Lady & St Etheldreda Church in Newmarket, Suffolk, after being approached by its fundraising committee.
Newmarket is widely regarded as the home of British horse-racing.
Paddy Power spokesman Ken Robertson told Mail Online: 'It was just before Christmas when we got an unsolicited call from a man on the fundraising committee at the church.
'He said Newmarket was the home of flat-racing in Britain and he asked would we sponsor an event to help pay for a new confession box .
'I half-jokingly floated the idea that if we paid for the confession box could we put our name to it - and he spoke to the priest, who was well up for it.'
The box, which has green curtains branded with Paddy Power's logo and the words 'Sin Bin' on the outside, was officially opened yesterday by jockey Frankie Dettori.
The Italian rider was married in the church, and was the first to say confession there yesterday.
Mr Robertson, who is the firm's communication manager, attended the confession box's official opening yesterday and the 12pm mass that followed.
He said: 'I met with a few of the parishioners and they were upbeat about it.
"Some even said they would pop in and say confession on their way to the Guineas (race meeting) on Saturday.'
Fr Michael Griffin, Our Lady & St Etheldreda's priest, told The Daily Telegraph: 'It was suggested by a parishoner that we should ask Paddy Power for help because of its horse-racing connections. We were very pleased when they generously agreed.
The diocesan spokesman Fr Mark Hackeson added: 'There is nothing morally wrong with gambling unless it deprives people of what is necessary to provide for their needs and that of their dependants.
'We regularly raise funds through raffles and that is also a form of gambling. This money was freely given for a specific purpose and had been earned legally.
Source
