The happy and glorious opening ceremony which took place on July 27 kicked off the 30th Summer Olympics in London. The marvellous final lighting of the Olympic cauldron, the show and the classic performance of Paul McCartney and other celebrities all portrayed the powerful dynamism of sports. In effect, the latter is a language that is easily understood by every person under the sun. Sports champions the enduring core values of healthy competition, sacrifice, fraternal respect, fairness and perseverance.
In 1908, due to its grave economic crisis, Rome refused to host the Olympic Games. It was London which took the challenge. Simultaneously, Pierre de Coubertain, the founder of the modern Olympics, asked the Vatican to support the Games which Pope St Pius X personally did.
This event is ably portrayed in a book entitled Pio X: Le Olimpiadi e lo Sport (Pius X: The Olympics and Sports), written by Antonella Stelitano. According to the author, in those times “less than one per cent of the population practised any sporting activity… and sport was used only as a form of military training or as a pastime for the upper classes”.
In her interview with Vatican Radio, Ms Stelitano explained that for St Pius X sports had an overwhelming educational potential. He considered it a means “to approach young people and to bring them together while following certain rules and showing respect for adversaries”.
In a speech addressed to youths on October 8, 1905, the Pope said: “I admire and bless with all my heart all the games and pastimes, gymnastics, cycling, mountain climbing, boating, jogging… competitions and academics to which you dedicate yourselves. The exercise of the body affects wonderfully on the exercise of the spirit. Because these activities require more work, you take away that sloth, which is the father of vices, and finally because the same friendly matches will be in you an image emulation in the exercise of virtue”.
St Pius X was well aware that through it people could be gathered together without any problems of race, religion or opposing political beliefs. The Italian Pontiff, who greatly believed in the importance of physical exercise, said to one of his cardinal collaborators: “All right, if it is impossible to understand that this can be done, then I myself will do exercise in front of everyone so that they may see that, if the Pope can do it, anyone can do it.”
Was not St Pius X’s claim prophetic since he simply and eloquently unravelled that Christians can convincingly evangelise others through sports?