The 2022 Winter Olympics have been underway in Beijing since February 4 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The resurgence of the virus has been threatening the event, which skated on the thin ice of uncertainty until the seven torchbearers carried the flame into the Bird’s Nest, as Beijing’s Olympic Stadium is nicknamed, and President Xi Jinping declared the Games open. Earlier, Pope Francis expressed his prayers and hopes that the Beijing Olympics “will bring about a more fraternal world.”
With its universal language, sport is expected to build bridges of friendship and solidarity between individuals and peoples of all cultures and religions. Besides the Winter Olympics, Beijing will also host the 2022 Paralympics from March 4 to 13.
Monsignor Melchor Sanchez de Toca, the undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, who oversees sports matters, wrote in L’Osservatore Romano that “in Paralympic athletes [are found] the best ambassadors to show the world the dignity of every human being. The Olympics and even more the Paralympics reveal all their potential for transformation, a unique opportunity to break down walls and build bridges.”
While the Winter Olympics in the Year of the Tiger are off to a roaring start in Beijing, hosting the world event during a pandemic is a test of grit for the government. Moreover, nine countries have decided on a diplomatic boycott, meaning that their athletes compete in the Games, but their government officials will not attend. According to CNN, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia are boycotting the Games “as a statement against China’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.” Japan, India and Taiwan are also boycotting the Games for various political reasons.
Apart from the politics, the event brings the opportunity to celebrate peoples and cultures. For the Catholic Church in Hebei, it is an occasion to tell the world about some of the early missionary activity and Christian presence in China. Some of the events of the Games are being held in Hebei province, where the Missionaries of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary [CICM] began nurturing a community of the faithful more than 200 years ago.
Verbiest Update, a newsletter issued by the Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation, published a story of the Catholic community in Chongli, a district about 50 kilometres from the city of Zhangjiakou, which hosts some of the Olympic events such as cross-country skiing and the biathlon. One hundred and fifty years ago, the missionaries had built a Church in the village of Xiwanzi, which now is home to over 60,000 inhabitants.
If done in the right spirit, the Olympic Games could become an important event in the 200-year Church history of Chongli, serving as a moment of the unique experience of human brotherhood and peace. In his message for the Paralympic Games, the pope said the real the gold medal to win is learning from the athletes with disabilities to overcome prejudices and fears, and make our communities more welcoming and inclusive.
The Olympics reminds the world once again of its motto of Citius, Altius, Fortius — that is, “faster, higher, stronger” — together with the fourth motto of communiter, or “together,” to bring about a more fraternal world. Pope Francis, in his third encyclical Fratelli tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship, has been championing these messages of mutual understanding, friendship and solidarity. jose, cmf
