Pontifical Council for the Laity

Vatican works more closely with Sport

The Church is getting more deeply into sport laity with the John Paul II Foundation for Sport, and the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Laity. It is believed that sport as a privileged place for dialogue among church, culture and youth. Sport is healthy recreation and appropriate challenge. Sport is a point of reference of bettering oneself and the development of virtue.

This is a new approach to following Christ.

(Sadly, the John Paul II Foundation for Sport is only a London based organization; let’s hope something in the USA and Canada gets working.)

From Vatican Radio:

Representatives from the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for the Laity held a press conference at the Vatican on Thursday, during which they presented the new lines of cultural approach to sport. The new approach is aimed at coming to an understanding of sport as a privileged place for dialogue among Church, culture and youth. The conference also provided an opportunity to present the Pontifical Council for Culture’s new Department dedicated to Culture and Sport, which will work closely with the Church and Sport Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and the John Paul II Foundation for Sport. One of those who participated in the press briefing was Fr. Kevin Lixey, who is Responsible for the Church and Sport Section at the Council for the Laity. He told Vatican Radio recent, highly publicized scandals in major league sports – including betting scandals in Italy – make the announcement extremely timely. “On the one hand,” said Lixey, “we wanted to announce something we’ve been doing for the past year and a half,” adding, “it’s a moment for the Church to show that it is concerned.” Fr. Lixey went on to say, “[The Church] is actively working and interested in trying to stimulate a little bit more the pastoral work with sport,” on all levels, from youth leagues to international and professional compretition. “There is,” said Fr. Lixey, “still a lot of good in sport.”

Listen to Chris Altieri’s extended interview with Fr. Kevin Lixey of the Pontifical Council for the Laity:

Read the Pope’s address to the Pontifical Council of the Laity

Communion and Liberation posted a new flyer entitled,
“Laity, that is, Christians.” It is a selection from the Pope
Benedict’s address to the Plenary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity that he gave on 25 November
2011.

The Pope’s address is a remarkable confirmation of what Father Julián
Carrón, President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation has proposed to
us since January: that Christ’s companionship reawakens the depths of our “I” (that
is, our entire person).

I highly recommend that you read the flyer attentively
and to reflect upon the deep communion between our CL charism and the
leadership of the Pope at this historical moment witnessed by it. As someone of
the CL movement said, “We are truly being led by the Good Shepherd in this
moment of such great difficulty for so many!”

Flyer: Laity, that is Christians.pdf

Papal address is available in Italian and Spanish at the moment. Here is the Italian version. Hopefully the English edition will be available soon.

20 years since Pope John Paul’s Christifideles Laici (“Christ’s faithful people)

“Vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and society. Twenty years since Christifideles Laici:

balance and perspectives”.

The first encounter on February 28th will be particularly dedicated to the “Ecclesiology of Vatican II and Christifideles Laici”, with an introduction by Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko, president of the Vatican office for the laity, Pontifical Council for the Laity.

“To be Christian lay people, it must often be reminded, is a true and specific vocation. It is a calling. It is also a mission–be it in the Church, within our Christian communities, be it above all in the world. A Christian lay person is evangelical yeast, is the light of the world, the salt of the earth. This is his vocation. (…) To be Christian lay people today, to be coherent Christians, at times requires not little courage, requires going against the tide. Our dicastery tries to encourage and help the laity to live their vocation in a courageous, convincing and persuasive manner.”