PARIS– As athletes accelerate their training and organizers finalize everything from ceremonies to podiums before the Paris OlympicsMore than 120 religious leaders are preparing for a different challenge – spiritually supporting some 10,000 Olympic athletes from around the world, especially those whose medal dreams will inevitably be shattered.
“We will need to bring them back to Earth, because it can feel like the end of the world after working on this goal for four or five years,” said Jason Nioka, a former judo champion and deacon responsible for the largest contingent of Olympic chaplains, about 40 Catholic priests, nuns and lay faithful.
Ordained and lay representatives of the five main global religions – Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism – have been working together for months to create a shared hall in the Olympic Village, on the outskirts of Paris.
There, they will provide some worship services, prayers, and most of all, a listening, non-judgmental ear to any athlete or team in need, regardless of their faith.
“We’re not there for them to win,” said Anne Schweitzer, who coordinates about three dozen Protestant chaplains, the second-largest group. “My goal is to have a Christian testimony there, people who embody the love and care of Jesus, for the athletes who are under so much pressure.”
There is a history of high demand for Olympic chaplains. Requests topped 8,000 at the pre-pandemic Games, organizers say, ranging from mental health concerns to a pre-race blessing to dealing with a sudden death in the family back home.
But this year’s chaplains are training for even more complex challenges, from complying with secular French laws that strictly prescribe the role of religion in public spaces to prepare for any repercussions of two major conflicts that rage not far away, the Russia-Ukraine war It is the Israel-Hamas warespecially in a time of increased activism by athletes.
“I see that our mission is to protect them in their fragility,” said the Rev. Anton Gelyasov, archpriest of the Greek Orthodox metropolis of France, who is leading more than two dozen Orthodox Christian chaplains for the Games. “Secondly, it is to bear witness that we are present, not just as ‘my church,’ but as ‘religions,’ and that it is good for us to be together.”
Indeed, the behind-the-scenes agreement to accommodate different religions, as well as different cultural, national and liturgical traditions within each faith, reveals podium-worthy teamwork on the part of the all-volunteer chaplain corps.
Each religion received 50 square meters of the tent-like structure being built and furnished in the village by the Paris Games organizing committee, with the basic mission of hosting athletes and providing information about worship.
So, Jewish and Muslim leaders decided to create their spaces close to each other, as an “image and example” – in the words of Rabbi Moshe Lewin – that they can coexist even in times of great geopolitical tensions.
Buddhists and Hindus, with the smallest expected number of followers, donated half of their spaces to Christians, who will have around 100 chaplains in rotation to serve Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants.
Next comes interdenominational diplomacy. The Muslim space will be divided by screens so that men and women can perform daily prayers separately, respecting the divergent practices within Islam globally, said Najat Benali, president of the Coordination of Muslim Associations of Paris, which is preparing the Muslim chaplaincy. .
Christians have committed to the types of crucifixes and icons they will bring into the hall – no images of Jesus on the cross, for example, to respect Protestant sensibilities. Buddhists will have Buddha statues and meditation cushions, but they are struggling to find a balance between the stark simplicity of the Zen tradition and the bright colors of the Tibetan tradition, said Luc Charles, a Zen monk who is also a taekwondo instructor and director of the hospital. chaplain of the Buddhist Union of France.
Little of this wealth of traditions will be visible from the outside – intentionally in a country where signs of faith are largely barred from public institutions. The hall itself will not be in the center of the village, and signs pointing to it will be discreet so as not to disturb non-believers, said Jeanne Le Comte du Colombier, the Paris Games committee’s project manager for the multi-faith center.
While the Olympics are not a place for proselytizing, several religious leaders said they would like to be able to do more outreach in the village, especially to athletes from countries without religious freedom who might be hesitant to come to the hall for counseling or a blessing.
Religious leaders are also forming a network of religious institutions, from mosques to parishes outside the athletes’ village and in other French cities. host competitions, such as Marseille and Lyon. There will be special schedules and multilingual services for athletes, although security will not be as strict as in the village itself.
The Conference of Catholic Bishops of France has launched a national “Sacred Games” initiative. Since last September, he has installed the “Our Lady of the Athletes” chapel in an iconic church in the center of Paris, La Madeleine. Worshipers can light candles with inspirational quotes related to the sport or enter prayer petitions on a tablet with a direct link to a monastic community.
Holy Games is also working to bring disadvantaged communities, such as the homeless and migrants, into the Olympic festivities that risks pushing them to the marginssaid project director Isabelle de Chatellus.
Some teams are also expected to bring their own chaplains. But religious leaders say athletes may still prefer to go to the chaplains’ hall to address sensitive issues.
They are preparing to hear about possible cases of abuse within the athletic team, striving to have equal numbers of male and female chaplains present, for example. And while most denominations offer some form of prayer for peace and pledge to welcome all athletes who seek them out, they are preparing for possible conflicts between those whose countries are at war.
“The geopolitical situation will have an impact on the athletes, but the Olympic Games provide the incredible opportunity to get to know each other,” said Lewin, special advisor to the Chief Rabbi of France and vice-president of the Conference of European Rabbis, who will serve as a chaplain. Jewish.
“We love it, we don’t do politics”, repeated Benali. “We will listen and explain that we are there to accompany the athletes. We are not a good resource for addressing geopolitics.”
Part of this spiritual accompaniment will result from the way each denomination defines the role of health, the human body and, therefore, sport. Many religious texts describe the body as a temple of the spirit, making it a moral duty to maintain good health.
Many also see a parallel between benches and bleachers in spiritual values such as dedication, perseverance and self-sacrifice.
“Sport gives me values that allow me to live a faith rooted in Christ,” said Nioka, 28, who will be ordained a priest a month before the opening ceremony.
Before a race, athletes can especially benefit from the Orthodox Christian tradition, given its emphasis on what Gelyasov called “spiritual combat,” a daily struggle against sin.
“If you don’t move forward, you go backwards. You always have to make progress,” she explained.
After a run, a Buddhist meditation could help with detachment, rather than focusing on the pressure of delivering “an almost superhuman performance,” in Charles’ words.
“We receive this body, this life, but in the end it is a higher energy that decides”, said the Zen monk.
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