Pope Says sports help person's integral development

(Oct. 6, 2007) “Sports, when lived in the rights spirit, help in the promotion of the human person,” said Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday. “Sports help man to regard his capacities as a talent and his life as a gift of God,” the Pope said addressing members of the visiting Austrian ski team. He underscored the ‘importance of sporting activities for the integral development of man, whose dignity,’ he stressed, ‘must always be respected.’ ‘Even in high-level sporting events, the interior harmony between body and spirit must be maintained,’ the Pope said, ‘without reducing the sport to a mere means to achieve results.’ In this regard, the Pope listed some of the virtues linked with sports. Virtues such as tenacity, the spirit of sacrifice, interior and exterior discipline, the sense of justice, the awareness of one’s limits and respect for others, need inculcated in daily life as well, the Pope said. ‘In a period when one experiences the loss of values and lack of orientation, athletes can give a strong motivation in the fight for good in the various contexts of life – from the family to the workplace,’ the Pope added. He urged the Austrian ski team to be the messengers of the nation’s favourite winter sport.