Pope: London 2012 uniting people in pursuit of excellence
(Vatican Radio) – Meeting with Sports Medicine professionals at Castel Gandolfo Thursday,
Pope Benedict XVI pointed to the London Olympics and Paralympics as a clear example
of “the capacity for sports and athletic endeavours to unite persons and peoples in
the common pursuit of peaceful competitive excellence”. Sport, he said, illustrates
"the beauty, the mystery and the potential of each human person, athletic or otherwise,
able-bodied or physically challenged". For this reason a correct, healthy dedicated
approach to sport can help foster a moral and spiritual regeneration among athletes.
In
an address to participants at the XXXII World Congress of Sports Medicine delivered
in English, the Pope also spoke of how sport has the potential to inspire people “across
cultures, regions and circumstances”. However he also urged the men and women who
care for athletes, to look beyond their physical needs: “Just as sport is more than
just competition, each sportsman and woman is more than a mere competitor”. There
is also the moral and spiritual dimension of these sportsmen and women.
But
Pope Benedict warned that “winning at all costs has replaced the true spirit of sport
and has led to the abuse and misuse of the means at the disposal of modern medicine:
“You, as practitioners of sports medicine, are aware of this temptation and
I know that you are discussing this important question during your Congress. This
is surely because you too appreciate that those whom you care for are unique and gifted
individuals, regardless of athletic capabilities, and that they are called to moral
and spiritual perfection prior to the call to any physical achievement”.
Below
the full text and audio of Pope Benedict XVI’s addresss:
Distinguished
Guests, Dear Friends,
I am pleased to welcome to Castel Gandolfo the representatives
of the thirty-second World Congress of Sports Medicine as, for the first time in your
history, you hold your biennial Congress in Rome. I would also like to thank Doctor
Maurizio Casasco for his kind words on your behalf. On this occasion, it seemed
appropriate to offer you a few thoughts on the care of athletes and of participants
in sports. I understand that you who have come for the Congress hail from one hundred
and seventeen countries and five continents, your diversity being an important sign
of the ubiquity of athletics across cultures, regions and circumstances. It is also
a significant indication of the capacity for sports and athletic endeavours to unite
persons and peoples in the common pursuit of peaceful competitive excellence. The
recent Olympics and Paralympics in London made this clear. The universal appeal and
importance of athletics and the field of sports medicine are also justly reflected
in the theme of your Congress this year, which speaks of the worldwide implications
of your work, and its potential to inspire many different people all around the globe.
As
Doctor Casasco rightly pointed out in his speech, you as medical experts recognize
that the starting point of all your work is the individual athlete whom you serve.
Just as sport is more than just competition, each sportsman and woman is more than
a mere competitor: they are possessed of a moral and spiritual capacity which ought
to be enriched and deepened by sports and sports medicine. Sometimes, however, success,
fame, medals and the pursuit of money become the primary, or even sole, motive for
those involved. It has even happened from time to time that winning at all costs
has replaced the true spirit of sport and has led to the abuse and misuse of the means
at the disposal of modern medicine. You, as practitioners of sports medicine,
are aware of this temptation and I know that you are discussing this important question
during your Congress. This is surely because you too appreciate that those whom you
care for are unique and gifted individuals, regardless of athletic capabilities, and
that they are called to moral and spiritual perfection prior to the call to any physical
achievement. Indeed, Saint Paul notes in his first letter to the Corinthians, that
spiritual and athletic excellence are closely related, and he exhorts believers to
train themselves in the spiritual life. “Every athlete”, he says, “exercises self-control
in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable”
(9:25). This is why, dear friends, I urge you to continue to keep before you the
dignity of those whom you assist by your professional medical work. In this way,
you will be agents not only of physical healing and athletic excellence, but also
of moral, spiritual and cultural regeneration.
As the Lord himself took human
flesh and became man, so each human person is called to reflect perfectly the image
and likeness of God. I therefore pray for you and for those whom your work benefits,
that your efforts will lead to an ever more profound appreciation of the beauty, the
mystery and the potential of each human person, athletic or otherwise, able-bodied
or physically challenged. May your professionalism, good counsel and friendship benefit
all those whom you are called to serve. With these thoughts, I invoke upon you and
those whom you serve God’s abundant blessings!