Thomas Bach thanked Pope Francis for “his commitment to the Olympic Movement’s mission of peace and solidarity”

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), thanked Pope Francis for his message about the importance of sport “to build bridges and promote peaceful relations” when referring to the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held this year in Paris.

Pope Francis received members of the Vatican Athletic Sports Association last Saturday and at that audience he said: “It is significant that this meeting takes place in the first days of 2024, which is the Olympic and Paralympic year. Thinking about the value of the Olympic Truce, my hope is that, in the particularly dark historical moment we are experiencing, sport can build bridges, tear down barriers and promote peaceful relationships.”

After learning this message from His Holiness, Bach thanked him “for his renewed and unequivocal commitment to the mission of peace and solidarity of the Olympic Movement. Thank you for your strong support.”

In the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, Francis emphasized that “sport is a means to express one’s talents, but also to build society. Sport teaches us the value of fraternity. We are not islands: on the field of play, it doesn’t matter where a person comes from, what language or culture they speak. What counts is commitment and a common goal. This unity in sports is a powerful metaphor for our lives. It reminds us that, despite our differences, we are all members of the same human family. Sport has the power to unite people, regardless of their physical, economic or social capacities.”

Bach also spoke about this unifying power of sport when referring to the challenges they will face in the next Olympic Games, which will take place in a world full of conflicts. In his message at the end of the year, the German leader hoped that Paris 2024 would be “a symbol of unity and world peace”.

The Athletica Vaticana Sports Association emerged in January 2019 and a couple of years later the International Cycling Union (UCI) was the first Olympic federation to include it as one of its members. In 2022, the Dutch Rien Schuurhuis participated in the World Cup in Australia and was the first to wear the colors of the Vatican. “Cycling highlights certain virtues such as resistance to fatigue -in long and difficult climbs-, courage -when trying to escape or face a sprint-, the integrity of respecting the rules, altruism and a sense of teamwork,” said the Pontiff about this historic participation.

Pope Francis stressed at the meeting at the Vatican that “sport also shows us that we can face our limits with patience and determination. Each athlete, through discipline and commitment, teaches us that with faith and perseverance we can achieve goals that we never thought possible. This message of hope and courage is crucial, especially for young people.”

“The game, then, is made up of rules that must be respected. Winning with humility and accepting defeat with dignity are values that sport teaches and that must be lived in daily life to build a more just and fraternal society,” he added.

Although the Vatican is a State and could participate in the Olympic Games, it does not have its own Olympic Committee and does not today aim to be part of the most important event in sport. Yes, for example, it has an official athletics team (affiliated with the Italian Athletics Federation); soccer teams that play unofficial tournaments (it is not a FIFA member), Vatican Cycling is part of the International Cycling Union and with Sara Carnicelli it was represented for the first time in an international multi-sport event such as the Mediterranean Games in Oran, Algeria, in 2022.