A few days before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games begin, Pope Francis expressed his hope that these will be an occasion for peace and a truce in the face of wars in the world.
“This week the Paris Olympic Games will begin, which will be followed by the Paralympic Games. “Sport has a great social force, capable of peacefully uniting people of diverse cultures,” said the Holy Father after praying the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
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“I hope that this event can be a sign of the inclusive world that we want to build and that athletes, with their sporting testimony, are messengers of peace and valid models for young people,” continued Pope Francis.
The Holy Father particularly wished that “according to ancient tradition, that the Olympics be an occasion to establish a truce in wars, demonstrating a sincere will for peace.”
“Let us pray, brothers and sisters, for peace. Let us not forget the martyred Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and so many other countries that are at war. Let’s not forget. War is a defeat! ”She exhorted.
On July 19, Pope Francis sent a message to the Archbishop of Paris (France), Bishop Laurent Ulrich, in which he had already expressed his desire that the Olympic Games promote world peace, which is “seriously threatened.”
“In these turbulent times in which world peace is seriously threatened, I fervently hope that everyone respects this truce in the hope of resolving conflicts and restoring harmony,” the Pontiff then indicated.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will open next Friday, July 26, “with an unprecedented celebration focused on athletes with a parade along the Seine (river) that will allow hundreds of thousands of spectators (…) to share the moment with the athletes”, who will participate in the 45 Olympic sports, according to the website of these Olympics.
“The festive atmosphere will continue throughout the summer along the River Seine and its canals; in every district of Paris, from La Vilette to Saint-Denis; and in many other communities in the Paris region,” he adds.
At these Paris 2024, “the public will be able to share the experience of the Games with their champions through pioneering celebration initiatives such as the Park of Champions, the Club France and the Park of Nations in La Villette.”
Paris 2024 will conclude on August 11, while the Paralympic Games will begin on August 28 and conclude on September 8.
Walter Sanchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.