Paralympics: Everybody has a skill

(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."