Pope Francis and Sports
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 16 Jan 2015
As a sportsman and a former athlete, Pope Francis has always emphasized that sports is an instrument to building a peaceful and better world.
Guesting at the 100th year anniversary celebration of the Italian National Olympic Committee last December, the former basketball player and long-time supporter of football told his audience of the importance of Olympism as vehicle towards attaining harmonious development of humankind and the defense of human dignity.
The principles of the Olympic Charter, Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina said, contribute to building a peaceful and better world without war or tension by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.?
?Sport has always favored universality characterized by fraternity and friendship among peoples, understanding and peace among nations, out of respect, tolerance, harmony of differences,? the Pope, who is in a five-day Apostolic visit to the country to see for himself the victims of super typhoon Yolanda, stressed.
?Every sporting event, especially those of the Olympics, where representatives of nations with histories, cultures, traditions, faiths and different values meet, can become a channel of an ideal force capable of opening new and sometimes unexpected paths in the resolution of conflicts arising from human rights violations,? he said.
The Vicar of Christ expressed belief that the Olympic motto ? citius, altius, fortius ? should not be interpreted as the supremacy of one nation over another, of one people over another, or even of the exclusion of the weakest and least protected.
?It represents the challenge to which we are all called , not only the athletes, that of taking on the toil, the sacrifice, to reach life?s important goal, accepting one?s limitations without allowing oneself to be impeded by them but striving to excel,?
?I invite you to persevere on this path. I encourage the educational work you are doing in schools, as well as that in the world of work, and that of solidarity in order to foster sport accessible to all, attentive to the weakest and the most vulnerable strata of society, the Pope, ?Lolo Kiko? to the Filipinos, said.
In another gathering, this time during the 70th anniversary of the Centro Sportivo Italiano held at the St. Peter?s Square where he was named the ?Captain? by athletes in attendance, Pope Francis also spoke of the principle of ?sports for all.?
Everyone who wants to join in sports should be welcomed, Francis said, ?not just the best, but everyone, with the advantages and limitations that everyone has, indeed, focusing on the most disadvantaged, as did Jesus.?
He encouraged the young athletes, as quoted by Lerri Lenartowick of CAN/EWTN News to apply themselves in ?the game of life? in the search for good, in the Church and in society, without fear, with courage, and enthusiasm.?
?Don?t content yourselves with a mediocre life.Give the best of yourselves, spending your lives for that which is truly valuable and that which lasts forever.?
Pope Francis closed his remarks asking for prayers that he would be able to ?play in the game? of life ?until the last day when God calls me to himself.?
?As captain I urge you not to block yourselves off in defense, but to come on the offense, to play together our match, which is that of the Gospel,? he said.
?Sports in the community can be a great missionary tool, where the Church is close to every person to help them become better and to meet Jesus Christ,? he told the enthusiastic crowds.
Pope Francis arrived in the early evening to witness performances of ballet and gymnastics. He also met with popular Italian sports figures and heard testimonies from those whose lives have been impacted positively by sports.
At one point, he met with members of an Italian amputee soccer team and posed for a group shot with one member?s iPhone as the theme song from the 1981 movie ?Chariots of Fire? rang out over the square.
The Pope?s remarks focused on how sports can bring about good in the lives of young people. He noted that sports are like school and work in helping youth develop themselves and avoid addictions to drugs and alcohol.
He said that to belong to a sports team ?means to reject all forms of selfishness and isolation--it is an opportunity to meet and be with others, to help each other, to compete in mutual esteem and grow in brotherhood.?
The pontiff acknowledged the ?beauty? of team sports which do not allow for individualism.
?In my country,? he recounted to the youth, ?when a player plays only for himself, they say, ?this one wants to eat the ball!?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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