Sport

Rethinking tomorrow

A series of four webinars in October to promote the best “restart” of sports within society

The Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life, together with the St. John Paul II Foundation for Sport, will host a series of four webinars in October to promote the best “restart” of sports within society.

The webinar will foster a think tank—composed of managers, athletes, coaches, and those who work in the pastoral or social dimensions of sports—which will work to develop guidelines and initiatives for the future of sports. It will also be an opportunity to learn about best practices from around the world for promoting a more human understanding of sports and a closer relationship between sports and society. As the Holy Father recalled in his Angelus address of 5 April 2020: “In this time when so many events are suspended, the finest fruits of sports come out: endurance, team spirit, brotherhood, and giving the best of oneself.”

The webinar series titled “Sport: rethinking the future” will be held each Thursday between 1 – 22 October 2020, at 16:00 (CET) on the Zoom platform. Each session will include an introduction, a personal testimony, a main presentation, and a 30-minute open question and answer session, on the following topics:

- 1 October 2020 – Sports after the pandemic: will anything change?

- 8 October 2020 – Giving the best of oneself: sports as a model of life

- 5 October 2020 – Inclusive sports: an opportunity not to be missed

- 22 October 2020 – Proposals for a better restart: an anthropological ecology

In addition to Card. Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery, and Daniele Pasquini, president of the John Paul II Foundation for Sport, speakers will include: Gian Paolo Montali, general manger of Ryder Cup 2023; Dyan Castillejo-Garcia, former tennis player and sports writer; Wolfgang Baumann, general secretary of TAFISA and member of the International Olypic Committe; Rev. Patrick Kelly, SJ, professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Detriot Mercy and Renata Simril, president of the LA84 Foundation.

All of the webinars will be conducted in English and will be streamed on the Dicastery’s YouTube channel.