VATICAN CITY.- He Pope Francisco praised the unifying power of sport on Sunday, just days before the start of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Parisand repeated his wish for a truce to be called in the world during the event.
“Sport also has a great social force, capable of uniting peacefully people of different cultures,” declared the pontiff during the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.
“I hope that this event can be a sign of the inclusive world that we want to build and that athletes, with their sporting witness, can be messengers of peace and good role models for young people in particular,” added the 87-year-old Pope.
According to ancient tradition, “the Olympics are an opportunity to establish a truce in wars, demonstrating a sincere desire for peace,” said the Argentine Jesuit.
The Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11 and the Paralympics from August 28 to September 8 in the French capital.
They assure that everything is ready:
“We are ready,” said Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, at a press conference on Sunday, although he admitted that “the pressure is increasing” in this final stretch for the sporting event, whose opening ceremony will take place on Friday.
“We are ready for this final stretch,” Estanguet said at a press conference, although he did not want to get carried away: “Until the closing ceremony (August 11) is over, we will have to be vigilant, but today we are exactly where we dreamed of being a few years ago.”
For the moment, the organisation is lucky and there are no clouds on the horizon: even the weather, after weeks of rain, seems to be giving a break and the sun is shining in Paris.
Less than a week before the long-awaited ceremony, which will last almost four hours and will take place outside a stadium for the first time, the fleet of boats that will transport the delegations had a dress rehearsal on Saturday and everything went “very well,” said the Organising Committee (OCOG).
“The results of the race are very positive in all the key elements: the navigation of several boats, the distances and the timing,” explained the organisers.
Source: AFP