Pope calls for an Olympic truce in ongoing wars, hopes the Games may bring peace and fraternity
The pontiff sent a message to the archbishop of Paris ahead of the Paris Games stressing truce, peace and fraternity. Although the Games have been marked by wars and restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes due to the war in Ukraine, they are also an opportunity to “discover and appreciate each other, to break down prejudices, to foster esteem where there is contempt and mistrust, and friendship where there is hatred.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis released a message today sent to the Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris, ahead of the 23rd Olympic Games set to take place in the French capital from 26 July to 11 August.
“The Olympic Games are, by their very nature, about peace, not war,” writes the pontiff. At the same time, stressing the value of hospitality among Christian communities opening their churches, schools and homes to athletes, ordinary people and the marginalised, the pontiff hopes that the event “will provide the people of France with a wonderful opportunity for fraternal harmony” thus “transcend[ing] differences and oppositions and strengthen[ing] the unity of the Nation” amid divisions and tensions evinced in recent European and French elections.
Speaking about the Olympics, the pope noted that in Antiquity, people “wisely instituted a truce during the Games!” In modern times regular attempts have been made “to revive this happy tradition. In these troubled times, when world peace is under serious threat, it is my fervent wish that everyone will take this truce to heart, in the hope of resolving conflicts and restoring harmony.”
“May He enlighten the consciences of those in power to the grave responsibilities incumbent upon them,” and “grant the peacemakers success in their endeavours”.
Francis hopes the Paris Olympics will provide an “opportunity for all those who come from around the world to discover and appreciate each other, to break down prejudices, to foster esteem where there is contempt and mistrust, and friendship where there is hatred.”
Such hope runs against a reality in which politics and current events are distorting the spirit of the event with the International Olympic Committee imposing several restrictions on athletes from Russia and Belarus due to the war in Ukraine.
Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be able to participate in team sports, only in individual events as "neutrals" (no flag, no uniforms), and will not be in the opening ceremony. Meanwhile, growing hostility in Russia’s ruling circles, including President Vladimir Putin, has made the presence of Russian athletes more complicated.
In his Olympic message, the pontiff writes that “Sport is a universal language that transcends frontiers, languages, races, nationalities and religions”. Sporting events, especially the Olympics, have “the capacity to unite people, to encourage dialogue and mutual acceptance; it stimulates the surpassing of oneself, forms the spirit of sacrifice”.
The Games “fosters loyalty in interpersonal relations; it invites people to recognize their own limits and the value of others,” Francis says. “The Olympic Games, if they remain truly ‘games’, can therefore be an exceptional meeting place between peoples, even the most hostile.”
Last but not least, “The five interlinked rings represent the spirit of fraternity that should characterize the Olympic event and sporting competition in general.”
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07/02/2019 17:28
11/06/2021 18:02
