Damn right they do. I remember asking a Priest professor at an Adult Theology class, “at what point does the Church consider one to be drunk?” His answer was,”Whenever he can no longer stand on their own two feet.” I replied, that’s whats wrong with the Catholic Church.” This was 45 years ago. You can see how much the drinking laws have changed since then.
Just for the record, I started the campaign against cigarette smoking at the same time and the first Catholic to label it to be sinful. I hate to admit, but it was John Paul II who condemned smoking as well.
Robert Christian at the journal Millennial know what the Catholic Church needs to give up, and it’s a too-easy acceptance of drinking, as he writes in this provocative, lengthy, and well-timed essay: “One is more likely to see devout Catholics being flip about drinking—or even romanticizing and glorifying it—than confronting the nihilism, escapism, and despair that are a big part of our nation’s drinking culture and the wreckage that it leaves in its wake.”
RNS 2-5-14