(Vatican Radio) Over 4,000 athletes from around the world, with varying types of
disability, are competing in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The 11-day sporting
event was due to be officially opened on Wednesday the 29th and the Games will run
until September 9th.
Cristina Gangemi is the Catholic Bishops' National Advisor
on disability matters and she urges everybody to treat the Paralympic Games with exactly
the same enthusiasm as the Olympics and really get behind "these amazing athletes."
She spoke to Vatican Radio's Susy Hodges.
Listen to the extended interview
with Cristina Gangemi:
Gangemi says
the Paralympic Games show that we all belong: "everybody has a place in the world
and everybody has a skill." When it comes to the athletes who compete in these Games,
Gandemi says the Paralympians face "the same pressures and issues and prepare in the
same way" as athletes for the Olympics or other sporting events.
Along with
other people, Gandemi is confident that the London Paralympics will be "the best ever"
and points to the fact that for the first time in the event's history all the advance
tickets have been sold out. This compares to past Paralympics where she says "the
tickets had to be given away" due to lack of interest.
Asked about the Church's
work with disabled people, Gandemi says "we've been working hard "to make the Church
really accessible to people with disabilities and we've been using the Theology of
the Body of Pope John Paul II and "his powerful witness." "It's not so much about
bringing (disabled) people in," she explains, "but recognising that they belong."