Faith in focus at Olympic Games

(Vatican Radio) With the official opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, upon us, the Catholic Church is working together with organizers to guarantee that the spiritual needs of all attendees can be met. There is a prayer room at every venue, and the Olympic Village has a large centre dedicated to serving people of all religions, with a common lounge and specific areas for the world’s five largest groups. A Benedictine monk of Worth Abbey, Fr Christopher Jamison, is the only Catholic priest to serve as chaplain to the 25,000 journalists who are covering the Games. He told Vatican Radio about the rationale behind the focus on religion in the modern Games. “The thinking behind this is that the Olympic athletes’ Village must contain a support network, which supports all aspects of the athletes’ lives,” including the religious. Just as athletes have access to food from the whole array of the world’s culinary traditions, explained Fr. Jamison, “Also, you have to sustain the spirits of the athletes – and so that is why the Olympic [Committee] has always said [to bidding cities]: ‘people must have access to their normal support networks of religious life and spirituality.’” Listen to Fr. Christopher Jamison’s extended conversation with Vatican Radio’s Lydia O’Kane: