Stefano Peschiera, the Peruvian who won the bronze medal in sailing in the ILCA 7 modality at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, thanked him for his achievement with a Mass in the Sanctuary of the Nazarenes in Lima, where the image of the Lord of the Miracles, the main Catholic devotion of Peru.
“I had to get closer to God if I wanted to be a happy person”
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In statements to the local media after the Eucharist, Peschiera stated that faith has been a constant “throughout my life. I was raised Catholic and recently, not too long ago, I went to a retreat and there I really realized that I had to get closer to God if I wanted to be a happy, calm person, with relief and without a burden of conscience.”
“And the truth is that today I have a clear conscience and I am willing to fight against anyone because I am accompanied, I am very well accompanied,” he highlighted.
Regarding the bronze medal, the Peruvian sailor highlighted that “it is a blessing, it is a ‘Godside’”, a word that some faithful use to say that coincidences do not exist, but are due to the Lord’s plans. It is formed by joining the words God and coincidence.
When remembering the gesture he had with the woman to whom he placed his bronze medal at the airport, the day he returned from Paris, Stefano Peschiera commented that “that person is very special to me, Piedad, because she has been with me since I was born and raised. Her values are those that I have today and she taught me to be a believer. She is a very believer, she comes from the jungle and is very simple.”
Stefano Peschiera and a message to young people
After commenting that he hopes to help improve sports in Peru and after thanking the gift of a card of the Lord of Miracles that he received while speaking with journalists, Peschiera left a message for the young people.
“I would tell them that there is no free prize. Work is what is going to make you achieve your results, it is a process, you have to respect it. Let them obey their parents, let them play sports but also study. It is important to study to develop your head, develop your thoughts. “That helps in sports,” she assured.
The medalist’s altar
August 10on his social networks, Stefano Peschiera showed the altar that accompanies him “everywhere”: “The image of the Lord of Miracles collected in the spa where this dream began, Ancón. The Virgin of Medjugorje, queen of peace and one of those who has done the most miracles. A special WYD (World Youth Day) rosary, and another that was prayed every day for the last month before the Olympics.”
“I can only thank God again for this opportunity,” he shared.
Who is Stefano Peschiera?
Stefano Peschiera Loret de Mola is a Peruvian sailer born on January 16, 1995. He is 29 years old.
He was the flag bearer of Peru at the opening of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. In 2023 he participated in the Santiago Pan American Games, obtaining the gold medal in the ILCA 7 sailing modality.
He has participated in the Olympic Games in Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
This Wednesday, August 14, the government of Peru awarded him the sporting laurels, the highest award received by an athlete in the country and which entails the inscription of his name on the façade of the National Stadium.
Who is the Lord of Miracles?
The Lord of Miracles, also called Christ of Pachacamilla, Purple Christ or Moreno Christ is an image of Jesus painted on an adobe wall that is preserved in the Sanctuary of Las Nazarenas in Lima (Peru).
The miraculous image has withstood the onslaught of several earthquakes, which is why its veneration has grown increasingly since the 17th century, becoming a distinctive feature of Peruvians throughout the world.
One of the many processions of the Lord of Miracles takes place in Rome and concludes in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, where he usually receives the greeting of Pope Francis. In 2023 that happened on Sunday, October 22.
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.