The bishop’ goal

The first goal of 2012 European foot championship – due to take place in Poland and Ukraine, starting today, June 8, ongoing until July 1st – was scored by Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, archbishop of Warsaw, upon the inauguration of the football tournament on June 2 during the thanksgiving celebrations marking the recovery of national sovereignty with the first free elections of June 1989. The open goal was scored in front of the Shrine of the Divine Providence, a champion of the under-21 Polish team served as goalkeeper. In view of Euro 2012 the Polish Church prepared a detailed program for attendance to the sport tournament, which, Cardinal Nycz said, "should be lived also as a spiritual event". For this reason the prelate reiterated the content of the letter addressed by the Polish episcopate to the faithful on the occasion of the football championship, encouraging them "to open up to others as Christians" and bear witness to "the community spirit of faith, when in the same church we will pray with supporters come from afar". "Man, a member of the human community, wishes to engage in a noble competition with his opponent", the bishops say. "On the one side it’s a challenge for victory", but on the other "it’s a self-tussle, addressing one’s weaknesses, defeats or delusions". May the month of the football championships "be a time without clashes, a time for the creation of bonds, a time for mutual enrichment and for human growth also through faith" the bishops said and assured their prayers to the players and supporters alike as well as "to all those who will take part in this ‘competition for goodness.’" Fr. Edward Plen, coordinator of the pastoral of sport, drew up a detailed schedule of pastoral events that will take place during the championship, including liturgical celebrations in many languages and rites, areas for prayer, for evangelization, and for the display of publications. Notably, "the Gospel of sportsmen and supporters", was published for the event along with a dedicated collection of "The reflections on Sport of John Paul II". Brochures with information on the competitions, the timetable of religious celebrations, and details of the places devoted to prayer will also be available. Chapels and areas for prayer have been set up in all the stadiums. Christian faithful from different Churches and religious traditions will be able to pray in the multi-faith chapel set up within Warsaw’s national stadium. Sportsmen and supporters will have the opportunity to attend liturgical celebrations and take part in the sacraments, including the sacrament of penance imparted with remarkable effort by the Polish Church in a number of foreign languages. The Polish Bishops’ Conference has also followed preparations for the championship for schools, with emphasis on the catechesis for students, focused on the correct interpretation of major sport events and on the duty of hospitality and respect. A dedicated website for supporters provides, inter alia, information on road itineraries to the churches that will be offering liturgies in English, Italian, Spanish, French and other foreign languages. Msgr. Henryk Tomasik, responsible for the pastoral care of the youth, believes that the Polish team will make it "to the quarter-finals", while the Metropolitan bishop of Danzica, Msgr. Slawoj Leszek Glodz, quotes from the First Letter of the Corinthians to saint Paul: "Know you not that they who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain!".2012 footballs for the young in poor countries "2012 footballs for 2012" is the name of the project by the Polish missionary works "Ad gentes". For European football championships, on the initiative of the president of the Commission for Missions of the Polish episcopacy, Msgr. Jerzy Mazur, missionaries will collect funds to bring footballs to children and youth living in the world’s poorest Countries. It is the initiative of the president of the Commission for missions of the Polish episcopate Msgr. Jerzy Mazur. "For many children in developing Countries", said the prelate, who thanks to the participation of players and supporters intends to promote the initiative on a large scale, "playing with a real football is a dream". "Football can unite the youth", he added. The organization of teams and football games or other sport competitions held at the end of religious celebrations, help "show to the youth how they can overcome tribal oppositions, opening up to their companions on the basis of loyalty". Each year, the Polish missionaries in Madagascar organise pilgrimages that end with a football competition. Small tournaments are organised also by the missionary nuns in South Africa where, said Sister Dorota Zok, "the youth’s award is just an ice-cream, but it makes them feel part of a family that often they don’t have".