JOHN PAUL II WELCOMES ATHLETES AT START OF THEIR JUBILEE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 28, 2000 (VIS) - Pope John Paul this morning welcomed 9,000 participants in an international convention, taking place in the Vatican for the Jubilee of Athletes on the theme "In the Time of the Jubilee: The Face and the Soul of Sports."

Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Central Committee of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 and Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, inaugurated the meeting and greeted those present before the Holy Father's arrival in the Paul VI Hall at 11 a.m. This afternoon the participants will make a pilgrimage to St. Peter's Basilica, where they will go through the Holy Door. A concluding meeting on the theme "Champions in Sports and in Life" will then be held in the Paul VI Hall.

"Sports," said the Pope in his address, "are surely one of the relevant phenomena that, with a language understood by everyone, can communicate very profound values. They can be a vehicle of high human and spiritual ideals when practiced in full respect for the rules; but they can also fall short of their authentic scope when space is made for other interests which ignore the centrality of the human person."

He continued: "Your theme speaks of the 'face' and the 'soul' of sports. Indeed sporting activity underlines, beyond the rich physical possibilities of man, also his intellectual and spiritual capabilities. He doesn't have just physical power and muscular efficiency, but also a soul and must show its integral face. This is why the true athlete must not allow himself to be overpowered by the obsession of physical perfection, nor to become dominated by the harsh laws of production and consumption or by purely utilitarian and hedonistic considerations."

In sports, observed John Paul II, "the sense of brotherhood, magnanimity, honesty and respect for the body - virtues which are undoubtedly indispensable for every good athlete - contribute to building a civil society where competition replaces antagonism, where agreement replaces conflict and loyal confrontation replaces rancorous opposition."

In closing remarks, the Pope reminded everyone that "sports ... must never distract those who practice and appreciate them from spiritual duties." He exhorted Christians never to forget their duty "to make holy the Sabbath."

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