Church campaign combines faith, sports and social media

(Vatican Radio) As the competition heats up in Canadian and American hockey for the coveted Stanley Cup, the Archdiocese of Montreal in Canada has launched an initiative that combines faith, sports and social media. And hundreds of hockey fans have taken the archdiocese up on it.

When the Montreal Canadiens hit the ice in their fifth game of the semifinal series against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night, hundreds of prayer intentions will be behind them.

In a city where hockey is more than just a sport, the team’s advance toward the Stanley Cup has quickened the city’s pulse and the local Catholic diocese has gotten in on the fun, setting up a website that invites fans to light a virtual candle and to submit a prayer for the team.

Fans donate $1 per candle and proceeds will go toward the good works of the local Church. Prayer intentions, as well as tongue-in-cheek good wishes for the team, have come in from across Canada and the United States.

Archbishop Christian Lépine told Vatican Radio the website is a light-hearted way to let citizens know the Church shares in their joys and hopes in daily life.

“When you’re born in Montreal, you’re born in the hockey world. Whether you follow it or not, it’s part of your life,” he said. “It’s like a smile to hockey fans, inviting them to pray. It’s a way to recognize that every facet in life has its place. We can pray (to) God for everything that is part of our life.”

But is the goal the website to ensure the team’s final victory? The archbishop reflected on the relationship between prayer and sport.

“You certainly can pray for people to give their best,” he said. “The one who plays hockey is always a human being. Practising a sport is never only about practising a sport. It’s about being a human being through the sport you practise and improving your humanity through the sport you practise. So how you play the game is also important.”

While the archdiocese has taken some criticism for the hockey-related website, communications director Lucie Martineau said the general response has been positive, with 10,000 visitors to date, and the site will continue for as long as the team remains in the playoff series.

Archbishop Lépine also pointed out that the site is only one media element of the archdiocese’s three-part annual collection campaign, which also includes a prayer hotline and citywide billboard campaign, featuring two hands—one old and one young, or one black and one white—joined in prayer. The billboards, said the archbishop, are his favourite visual element of the campaign: they serve as yet another call to prayer and as a sign of unity.

Listen to the report by Laura Ieraci: