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19/02/2010 (3:45)
The Winter Olympics are in full swing in Vancouver, and the Vatican is there in spirit. No, they did not send athletes to compete in the games, but Pope Benedict did send a message. Today on the Vatican Report we will look at how the wide world of sports is an area of pastoral interest for the church. I am John Thavis, Catholic News Service Rome bureau chief.
And I am Carol Glatz, CNS Rome correspondent. Pope Benedict’s message to the Winter Olympics asked athletes to look beyond the glitter of gold medals. Sports competition, he said, can help build friendship between peoples and nations. He also expressed support for an initiative by local churches in Canada called “More than gold”. They are offering spiritual programs, events and hospitality for Olympic athletes, visitors and volunteers.
Six years ago the Vatican established an office of Church and Sports, headed by a U.S. priest. Pope John Paul II created the office as a way to help promote authentic human and Christian values in today's sports activities. Church leaders are worried that ideals like equality, fraternity and fair play are disappearing in what has become a multi-billion dollar sports industry. Illegal drug-use, huge salaries and unsportsmanlike behavior on and off the field have all helped tarnish the image of the ideal athlete as someone healthy in body, mind and spirit.
In an effort to provide a role model for ethical sportsmanship, one Catholic sports association in Italy kicked off an initiative four years ago called The Clericus Cup. It has become an enormously popular soccer series in which 16 teams of seminarians and priests studying in Rome vie for the championship title. Now even though winning is theoretically not the ultimate goal here, fans and players have become incredibly vested in taking home the coveted Clericus Cup for their college seminary. Last year the U.S. seminary in Rome, the North American College, came in second place after going undefeated into the final match.
It was an exciting day. Sports are not a foreign activity inside the Vatican, either. Vatican employees have their own soccer championship each year, pitting teams from the Swiss Guards, Vatican Radio, maintenance staff and all the other departments. There is a tennis court tucked behind the Vatican Museums, too. Many Roman Curia officials are avid sports fans, especially soccer, which seems to be Italy’s second official religion. Even Popes have an interest in sports. Pope Pius XI was into mountaineering, scaling summits in Switzerland. Pius XII let St. Peter's Square be turned into a basketball court for a historic game of hoops in 1955. John XXIII was a huge cycling fan and Paul VI flourished the starting flag for the start of the Tour of Italy in 1974.
Pope John Paul II obviously stands out as the most athletic Pope in memory: He was an avid skier, soccer player, hiker and swimmer. They even built a swimming pool for him at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. Pope Benedict is more a bookworm, however. In minor seminary he was the smallest boy in his class and, as he put it, “not at all gifted at sports.” He described the two hours of daily sports activities in the school a "complete torture." But like most Bavarians, he loves hiking in the woods and mountains. And he rarely misses his daily walk in the Vatican Gardens. I am Carol Glatz.
And I am John Thavis, Catholic News Service.
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