ROME — Pope Francis has called for a ceasefire to armed conflicts to mark the Olympic Games that begin in Paris this week.
“Sport also has a great social power, and it can peacefully unite people from different cultures,” the pontiff told crowds gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for his weekly Angelus address Sunday.
The pope added that the Olympic Games provide a unique opportunity to bear witness to the “inclusive world we want to build,” and exhorted the Olympic athletes to offer a “sporting testimony” as “messengers of peace and authentic models for young people.”
In particular, Francis proposed honoring the “ancient tradition” of laying down arms for the duration of the games.
May the Olympic Games be “an occasion to call for a cease-fire in wars, demonstrating a sincere desire for peace,” he said.
He also called on his hearers not to forget “tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and many other countries that are at war.”
“Let us not forget, let us never forget, war is a defeat!” he concluded.
The ancient Greek tradition of the “Olympic Truce” — or ekecheiria, literally, “laying down of arms” — originated in the eighth century B.C., and was intended to protect the host city (Elis) from attack and to allow athletes and spectators to travel safely to the Games and peacefully return to their own countries.
Since 1993, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly has repeatedly expressed its support for the ideal of an Olympic Truce and for the mission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), adopting, every two years – one year before each edition of the Olympic Games – a resolution titled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal.”
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