by BJW Nashe
What are we to make of the strange case of Sister Mary Anne Rapp, the gambling nun from New York?
Sister Rapp, at 68 years old, has been a Roman Catholic nun for the past 50 years. Recently, she was sentenced to 90 days in jail for stealing nearly $130,000 from two parishes in her home state. Sister Rapp reportedly stole the money to support her gambling addiction.
The thefts occurred between March 2006 and April 2011, when Sister Rapp was in charge of collecting donations for St. Mary’s Church in Holley and St. Mark’s Church in Kendall. The missing funds were discovered during an audit performed when Father Mark Noonan took over as pastor of the two churches in 2010.
Sister Rapp was arrested in November 2012. Last April, she pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny in Orleans County Court. She was initially charged with second-degree grand larceny, which could have landed her behind bars for up to 15 years, but was subsequently offered a plea deal since she did not have any prior criminal history.
Sister Rapp confessed to investigators that she had used the stolen money to play the slot machines at various casinos in New York. There are nearly 20 gaming businesses in upstate New York, half of them located on Native-American reservations. The casinos are nothing if not inclusive. Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Hindus, unrepentant heathens — all are welcome. No matter what your particular belief system, when it comes to gambling, the house always wins. And if you are a nun, the Lord is probably keeping an eye on every wager.
In addition to the 90 days of jail time, Sister Rapp will be required to perform 100 hours of community service, and to repay the pilfered cash, which may be an unlikely proposition. She has also been rapped across the knuckles with a wooden ruler and ordered to say 10,000 Hail Marys. Moreover, she is required to feel guilty and ashamed for the rest of her life, until God weighs in on her case come judgment day. Aside from the threat of eternal damnation, not everyone thinks Sister Rapp’s case is such a big deal. The Sisters of St. Francis in Lewiston issued a statement expressing empathy for the two churches and continued support for Rapp. Perhaps the good Sisters have also played the slots on occasion, and know full well how addicting it can be.
Stealing over a hundred grand from church parishes in order to splurge at casinos is not exactly saintly behavior. After all, the churches probably needed that money to pay damages to parishioners who were molested by priests when they were children. But I see no need to moralize about someone robbing churches. Let he who hath not sinned cast the first stone.
What’s most troubling about this case is not the stealing, but rather, the incredibly lame gambling. Surely the slot machines are the most feeble kind of vice imaginable. What a travesty. If you’re going to go to all the trouble of raiding the church coffers to feed your habit, thus running the risk of a serious felony conviction, for God’s sake, at least do some real gambling. Play some poker, blackjack, roulette, or even have a go at the craps table. If you get tired of the casino, go nuts at the horse races. Anything but the mechanical tedium of the infernal slot machines. What next? Bingo addiction? God help us all…
To be a gambling addict who plays slot machines is analogous to being a drug addict who only smokes marijuana, or a sex addict who merely watches porn, or an alcoholic who just drinks beer. If you’re going to bottom out anyway, you might as well go down with the hard stuff. Forget the half-measures, and get into some serious sinning before it’s time to repent.
Hopefully, Sister Rapp’s process of redemption will include meeting some hardcore gambling addicts who can explain to her that she has only scratched the surface of a true descent into gambling damnation. Maybe in jail she will take the time to read The Gambler by the great Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Now there’s a compelling tale of truly sinful gambling addiction.
So the slot machines are a big disappointment. As for gambling in general, Sister Rapp agreed to seek treatment for her addiction before she was convicted. She apparently spent ten months in a rehab program. Perhaps she can turn this whole shameful experience into something positive. Perhaps she can help other nuns who are struggling with addiction problems. If she plays her cards right, Sister Rapp could parlay this humiliating setback into a whole new career as the “recovery nun.” Hopefully, she has an agent standing by, pulling strings for her while she serves her time. Reality TV could certainly use someone like Sister Mary Anne Rapp. Many of us are growing disillusioned with shows about rednecks chasing hogs around the Ozarks or wrestling alligators in the Everglades or selling junk in Las Vegas pawn shops.
Next time you go to church (those of you who do attend the Lord’s house), be sure to give generously when the basket comes around.