SPORTS, OCCASION FOR DIALOGUE AND UNDERSTANDING

VATICAN CITY, SEP 16, 2002 (VIS) - This morning the Pope received at Castelgandolfo members of management, technicians and players of the Real Madrid Football Club.

In his greetings, John Paul II affirmed that the Church "considers sports as an instrument of education when elevated human and spiritual ideals are fostered; when they form young people in a complete way in values such as loyalty, perseverance, friendship, solidarity and peace. Sports, overcoming the diversity of cultures and ideologies, provide the ideal occasion for dialogue and understanding among people for the construction of the desired civilization of love."

"I therefore invite you," he concluded, "to put into practice these values, based on the dignity of the human person, in the face of possible interests that can cast a shadow on the nobility of sports."

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