Giving “the Best of Yourself” on Two Wheels

On a beautiful day in July, Father Giovanni Buontempo, representing the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, welcomed the cyclists who participated in the project “Ride to Rome,” at the end of the trip that led them, in 4 days, from Ronchi dei Legionari, in the province of Gorizia, to Rome (approx. 700 km). This initiative was organized by the non-profit voluntary association GEOforCHILDREN, and followed two previous events “Ride to Moscow” and “Ride to Dolomiti.”

Since its creation in 2014, the association has promoted various projects to support an orphanage for boys and girls in Moscow, where they are accompanied as they grow and helped and in their studies. The project “A Door to Life” organizes, in particular, courses in different disciplines, encouraging them to cultivate their talents and giving them the possibility of a better future. A similar project has recently begun to help children in Thailand.

In his presentation, the president of GEOforCHILDREN, Paolo Ferraris, explained: “On a bike, as in life, it is important to move forward, without giving up, and to have confidence in yourself and in others. The trust in one’s own abilities is fundamental, but if one also has confidence in the others and faces the journey in their company, even the most inaccessible and difficult path will be a little simpler. This is the message that we want RIDE TO ROME to transmit to all the young people who feel alone, abandoned, not understood. As difficult as the future may seem, with effort and determination, confidence in themselves but also trust in others, it is possible to overcome apparently insurmountable limits and reach goals that seem unattainable.”

At the end of the meeting, all the cyclists were given a copy of the document “Giving the Best of Yourself” on the Christian meaning of sport, recently published by the Dicastery.