Focolare Movement

2018 Winter Paralympic Games

Mar 12, 2018

At the closing of the Winter Olympics last 9 March in Pyeong Chang, a grand inaugural ceremony of the 12th edition of the Winter Paralympic Games was held, and which will last up to 18th. March. In accordance with the International Committee, the Paralympic Games are held every four years, in the same city as […]

At the closing of the Winter Olympics last 9 March in Pyeong Chang, a grand inaugural ceremony of the 12th edition of the Winter Paralympic Games was held, and which will last up to 18th. March. In accordance with the International Committee, the Paralympic Games are held every four years, in the same city as that of the Winter Olympics, with the participation of physically disabled athletes. As Pope Frances underlined, if “sports can cast bridges between countries in conflicts and give a valid contribution to prospects of peace among peoples,” the Paralympic Games “even more attest to the fact that through sports, one’s own handicaps can be overcome,” thanks to the “example of courage, constancy, determination in not allowing oneself to be won over by limitations” given by the athletes. “Sports appears to be a big school of inclusion, but also of inspiration for life and commitment to the transformation of society.” The first Winter Paralympics were held in Sweden in 1976. Like the summer Games, they owe their existence to the tenacity with which some doctors, especially the English Ludwig Guttmann, were able, with their methods, to help the veterans of WWII to find in sports competitions an opportunity to rehabilitate themselves and find their own role in society.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Newsletter

Thought of the day

Related post

Season of Creation 2026: The Transformation of a Community

Season of Creation 2026: The Transformation of a Community

The “Season of Creation” is an ecumenical Christian initiative that begins every year on 1st September and ends on 4th October, the feast of St. Francis. This year with the theme “Living Water”, Christians around the world are invited not only to contemplate water at the river banks, but to immerse themselves in what it represents: life, relationship, healing, hope and the love of God that flows through all of creation. Here is a testimony from Congo, in Africa.

1st September, the “Season of Creation” begins

1st September, the “Season of Creation” begins

In the message published on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Leo XIV urges us to face today’s ethical and cultural crisis that includes the desire for war, domination and the pursuit of profit. What is needed is “an authentic ecological conversion” that comes from the heart.