Holy Games: Holiness through sport during the Olympics in France

Within the framework of the Olympic Games, which opened today in Paris and will be held until August 11, the Catholic Church in France promotes the Holy Games (Holy Games), an initiative created to promote holiness through sports.

“Through this initiative we want to celebrate with enthusiasm, through sport, the human person and the call to fraternity among peoples,” expresses the organization of the Holy Games in its official website.

“We also want to promote access to sport for the most vulnerable – particularly people in very precarious situations – so as not to leave anyone behind,” they stated. And they add: “On the occasion of these (Olympic) Games, Holy Games “He wants to seal an alliance between the Church and sport, between holiness and the game,” they add.

From the opening of the games until August 10, Holy Games It will carry out daily activities, among which are Masses, vigils of adoration and confession, musicals and training days; open to the millions of visitors and thousands of athletes who will be present in the French capital throughout the games.

Thousands of young Catholics, between 18 and 35 years old, from different regions of France, will have the opportunity to “propose a solid model of the Church in pastoral matters in the world of sport and reaffirm the deeply Christian identity of this contemporary world event. “whose popularity has not diminished since its reintroduction at the end of the 19th century,” as stated in the National Catholic Register.

Likewise, the initiative will continue on the days when the Paralympic Games take place, starting on August 28, where volunteers will have the opportunity to work alongside people with disabilities.

Furthermore, during the sports sessions themselves, more than 70 parishes located near the Olympic venues will be mobilized to welcome the flow of visitors and will also offer numerous religious celebrations in several languages.

On Friday, July 19, Bishop Laurent Ulrich, Archbishop of Paris, presided over the inaugural Mass of the Olympic Truceconcelebrated by Bishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio to France, and Bishop Emmanuel Gobilliard, Bishop delegate of the Holy See for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The truce is a period of peace that traditionally provides for the cessation of conflicts between the nations of the world during the Olympic Games. The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, attended the Eucharist.

The closing ceremony of the Holy Gamesat the end of the Paralympic Games, will be held at the Saint-Denis Cathedral, which will also host a vigil to bless the athletes on July 25, with the distribution of the Miraculous Medal.