More than 120 faith leaders are preparing to spiritually support 10,000 athletes at the Summer Olympics in Paris, which will begin late next month.
“We’ll need to bring them back to earth, because it can feel like the end of the world after working on this goal for four or five years,” said Jason Nioka, a former judo champion who is in charge of the largest contingent of Olympic chaplains, about 40 Catholic priests, nuns and laypeople.
Ordained and lay representatives from the five major global religions — Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism — have been working together for months to set up a shared hall in the Olympic village outside Paris, Religion News Service reported. There, they will provide some worship services, prayers and, above all, a non-judgmental listening ear to any athletes or staff in need, regardless of faith.
“We’re not there to have them win,” said Anne Schweitzer, who is coordinating about three dozen Protestant chaplains, the second-largest group. “My goal is to have a Christian witness there, people who embody the love and care of Jesus, for the athletes who are under so much pressure.”
This year’s chaplains are training for several complex challenges, from complying with France’s secularism laws that strictly prescribe the role of religion in public spaces to preparing for any spillover from two major conflicts raging not far away — the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas war.
“I see our mission as protecting them in their fragility,” said the Rev. Anton Gelyasov, archpriest of the Greek-Orthodox Metropolis of France. “Second, it’s to give witness that we are present, not only as ‘my church’ but as ‘religions,’ and that it’s good that we are together.”
Each religion will have 538 square feet of the tentlike structure that is being constructed and furnished in the village by the Paris Games organizing committee, with a basic mandate to welcome athletes and provide worship information. Buddhists and Hindus, with the fewest expected adherents, donated half their spaces to Christians, who will have about 100 chaplains in rotation to serve Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants.
Several faith leaders said they wish they could do more outreach in the village, especially for athletes from countries without freedom of religion who might hesitate to come to the hall for counseling or a blessing. France’s Catholic Bishops Conference has launched a nationwide “Holy Games” initiative. Since last September, it has set up the “Our Lady of Athletes” chapel in an iconic downtown Paris church, La Madeleine. The faithful can light candles with inspirational sports-related quotes or enter prayer petitions in a tablet with a direct link to a monastic community.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice