The Pope said football and other team sports promote respect for one another and help athletes to overcome individualism.
Pope Benedict wrote a message to the President of Polish Episcopal Conference to mark yesterday’s kick off of the European Football Championship being played in Poland and Ukraine.He said football is an important way to educate people to respect one another including their adversaries, and to show a spirit of sacrifice for the good of the entire team.
The Pope underlined that sports overcome the logic of individualism and selfishness that often characterise human dealings.
He added that sports leave space for the logic of fraternity and love, the only thing capable of authentically promoting the common good, at all levels.
Pope Benedict encouraged the 16 national teams taking part in UEFA’s Euro 2012 √É’to work to ensure that this event is experienced as an expression of the most noble human virtues and actions, in a spirit of joy and peace.’
Yesterday, Poland played the inaugural game against Greece in Warsaw and the game ended with a one-one draw. In the second match of the evening, Russia thrashed the Check Republic by four-one.