Olímpiadas 2000 Promovem Catolicismo

Chris Harmse, recordista africano do arremesso do martelo e católico, declarou que não disputará os Jogos Olímpicos porque há competições marcadas para o domingo. Segundo o comitê olímpico da África do Sul, o atleta teria comunicado a decisão na passada. Harmse era um dos 20 integrantes da equipe sul-africana de atletismo. Conseguiu sua classificação com um arremesso de 76,94 m.

Participação católica no ressurgimento das Olímpiadas

Cerca de um mês antes do início das Olimpíadas de Sidney, o escritório de Correios e Moedas do Vaticano anunciou o lançamento de um selo "para recordar ao mundo os ideais espirituais que motivaram os criadores das Olimpíadas, tal como as conhecemos atualmente". 

Segundo o Vaticano, apesar de terem sido proibidos no quarto século pelo imperador Teodósio, que, por pressão da própria Igreja, os considerou "pagãos", os modernos jogos olímpicos internacionais teriam ressurgido no fim do século XIX por influência do padre francês dominicano Henri Didon. Foi ele quem escreveu em latim, em 1895, um ano antes dos primeiros jogos em Atenas, na Grécia, o lema original das olimpíadas: "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (Rápido, Alto, Forte).

Educador famoso e amigo íntimo de Pierre de Coubertin, considerado o pai das modernas olimpíadas, o Padre Didon teria vislumbrado nos jogos olímpicos "um meio para alcançar a grandeza espiritual através da competição física". "O atleta olímpico desejará superar-se, dominar seu corpo e espírito e descobrir o melhor de si mesmo", teria dito o sacerdote católico.

O padre Didon (1840-1900) também ficou conhecido por suas qualidades como escritor e pregador. Por essas razões, ao comemorarem-se os cem anos da morte do Padre Didon, a Igreja Católica lançou um selo especial, contendo a imagem do Padre Didon e a frase que criou para as olimpíadas.

Fonte: http://www.aciprensa.com/notic2000/agosto/notic1037.htm 

Papal Reflections on Athletic Competition

VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- During a May 12 audience with competitive cyclists, Pope John Paul II cautioned that the world of sports "cannot be reduced to a simple effort, or a questionable display of physical power." As he met with participants and organizers of the Tour of Italy, which would begin the following day, the Pope said that healthy athletic competition should bring out some of the more important human virtues, including honesty and fair play as well as discipline and hard work.

The Holy Father also warned against excesses in competition. "The search for better and better technical approaches, and better course conditions, should always be done as a service to the athlete as a person, and not vice versa," he said. He added that neither athletes nor spectators should be put at risk by the desire for more intense competition. The Pope issued an invitation for all of the cyclists to participate in the Jubilee for sports, which will take place in Rome's Olympic stadium on October 29.

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewrec.cfm?RefNum=12925

Number: 1432    Date: 22-Jul-96    Type: B    Code: 

PIEVE DI CADORE, Italy (CWN) - Pope John Paul offered prayers of protection for the Olympic Games on Sunday, while remembering those who died in last week's TWA crash in New York.

"I hope that the centenary games will forcefully re-launch the ideal of sport as a promotion of mankind and of a peaceful and brotherly meeting among peoples," the Holy Father said during his weekly Angelus prayers during his mountain vacation.

"Unfortunately, the eve of the sporting demonstration was disturbed by a woeful event: the fall of a jumbo jet shortly after takeoff from New York," he said. The Pope called on God's mercy for the victims and said he was praying for their families.

"Let God protect the Olympic Games, so that they go forward with the greatest serenity," he said.

The Holy Father's prayers for the Olympic Games follows last week's comments by International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch that the Olympic movement was bigger than the Catholic Church.

Asked about the remark at a news conference on the opening day of the Atlanta Games, Samaranch back-pedaled and said: "I never said that one. I said only that the Olympic movement has more supporters than any type of religion in the world."

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewrec.cfm?RefNum=1432 

Number: 1296    Date: 12-Jul-96    Type: U    Code: 

VATICAN (CWN) -- The Olympic Games which open later this month will might also be called the Ecumenical Games. Among the 10,800 athletes expected to gather in Atlanta from 197 different countries, there are 32 separate religious denominations represented.

That aspect of the Olympics captured the attention of the Italian daily newspaper Avvenire, which today featured a report on the subject. Bob Brennan, the chief press officer for the Atlanta Olympics, told Avvenire, "We are very much aware of that problem."

"At the Barcelona games there was an effort to organize the religious groups," Brennan continued, "but we have worked particularly hard this time because the US is a melting-pot where many different cultures and religions exist side by side"

Among the athletes, Catholics will form the largest single religious group-not a surprising fact, since nineteen of the countries participating in the Games are Spanish-speaking nations where Catholicism is dominant. There will be four priests and two nuns serving full-time to minister to the spiritual needs of the visiting athletes and their support staff during the Games. Two Masses will be celebrated each day at the "Catholic Center" in the Olympic Village, in a chapel that will accommodate 300 worshippers.

Orthodox athletes will have access to the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, and Protestants may choose from among a number of offerings. The Baptist Student Center, probably the largest Protestant meeting-place in the Olympic Village, will hold Bible-study sessions every evening.

Buddhists and Hindus will have to make their own provisions for prayer and meditation. But Muslims will find a mosque open from dawn until dusk, while Jews can attend a synagogue which has just been completed.

Naturally, there have been a few unique problems to solve in organizing so much religious activity. Father David Dye, a priest of the Archdiocese of Atlanta who was placed in charge of relations with the Olympic organizers, explained one peculiar episode: Organizers wanted chaplains to wear the official insignia of the Olympic Games; the Archdiocese demurred, citing concerns about the "visibility" of priests attached to the Games. The editors of Avvenire saw that disagreement as downright humorous.

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewrec.cfm?RefNum=1296 

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