SA SAINTETE JEAN-PAUL II
... discours aux
participants des 12° jeux italiens de la jeunesse ...
2
Octobre 1980
Dear representatives of the sports federations of the Italian National Olympic Committee,
Dear boys and girls!
I especially appreciate this visit at the end of the National Youth Games which were held in Rome
in these days. I am pleased to see all of you and to welcome you. Thank you for thinking of me with
this kind gesture of visiting me before returning to your homes and to the various regions of Italy
from which you have come and which you have represented so well. I also wish to express my
gratitude to Mr. Franco Carraro, president of the Italian National Olympic Committee, for the
thoughtful words he addressed to me on behalf of all of you.
Your enthusiastic and festive presence invokes in my mind so many dear memories of my previous
pastoral experiences among the youth athletes of Poland.
You know well the esteem the Church has for you and know that the Christian faith does not belittle
sport, but rather, reinforces and dignifies its various expressions.
You also know the interest with which I follow your athletic activities and with what satisfaction I
watch your sporting performances in which reveal the uncommon qualities of fortitude, discipline
and bravery, with which the Lord has blessed you. Your President has just spoken about your
training in "loyalty", in "self-discipline", in "courage", in "generosity", in "cooperation" and in
"fraternity". Indeed, are not these also goals to which the Church strives for in her efforts to educate
and form the youth? Are not these also the requirements and the deepest demands of the Gospel
message?
In this regard, and I urge you to always give the best of your energy and skill in peaceful sportive
competition. At the same time, I remind you to not use sport only as an end in itself, but rather as a
valuable asset that may help you to enrich your personal development with that fullness that comes
from the integration of both your physical and spiritual talents. In a word, the body must be
subordinated to the spirit which gives light, breath and sprint to life, and makes you good athletes,
good citizens and good Christians.
Dear young people, today's meeting with you takes place at a particularly important moment for the
life of the Church. Many of you might know that numerous bishops from all over the world have
gathered in the Vatican to participate in the Fifth Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the tasks of
the Christian Family in the Modern World. It is more urgent than ever to reattribute that beauty to
all Christian families that is the fullness of love, and all those virtues that have been stressed by our
Lord. It is necessary that the family be a privileged gymnasium where your spiritual, sportive and
social ideals will find a favorable atmosphere and the impetus necessary to develop them to their
full maturity. I encourage you to add your own personal effort so that your family will become a
true school of spiritual strength and training for greater human and social achievements.
As a token of benevolence in as much as it can be of assistance and encouragement, I cordially
impart on you here present, to your local sports associations, to your loved ones and to those
members of the National Olympic Committee, my Apostolic Blessing.retour
aux discours des papes sur le sport