Homily by Mgr Laurent Ulrich – Opening mass of the Olympic truce

– Homélie de Mgr Laurent Ulrich - Messe d’ouverture de la trêve olympique, en l’église de La Madeleine .

Readings : Isaiah 32:15-18 ; Psalm 85 ; Philippians 4:6-9 ; Matthew 5:1-12a

Μακάριοι, (Makarioi) Blessed ! Perhaps this word is the strongest, for it evokes not a passing or merely earthly happiness, but a beatitude that already prefigures eternity in God. Blessed is the inversion of values that Christ teaches in every era of history, and in our own. It is not wealth, well-being, power, violence, harsh judgment of others, permanent suspicion, the spirit of domination, lies and injustice, insults and forgetting the gifts that God gives so that all men can have them, it is not all these evil intentions that will have the last word in human life. Rather, we believe that the last word will belong to humility, compassion, gentleness, justice, mercy and benevolence, righteousness, the search for the good of others and the common good, the surrender of self to God even in the gift of self to others : living simply so that everyone can simply live.

Yes, blessed is the wisdom that also presides over the Olympic spirit and dwells in our hearts as we turn to the Lord to give thanks and implore him on behalf of our world.

The Olympic Truce is the revival of a custom that surrounded the games of Antiquity and was intended to allow the free and well-protected movement of athletes and spectators from one province or country to another. In our contemporary world, it corresponds to a desire of the founder Pierre de Coubertin and his friend the Dominican Henri Didon : to develop contacts and relationships between young people from the nations taking part in these games, to foster the very spirit of peace. And every two years for the past thirty years, the United Nations has passed a resolution to open this truce, which begins today and runs until September 15, eight days after the end of the Paralympic Games. Yes, unfortunately, ongoing wars do not cease during the Games, but the desire for peace spreads through the encounters they make possible in these sporting events.

The Holy Father has just told us in his message : “Sport is a universal language that transcends borders, languages, races, nationalities and religions”. This was also stated in the UN declaration of November 2023, which emphasizes gender parity in the number of athletes, and the specific participation under the Olympic flag of a team of refugee athletes far from their country of origin. The Pope, for his part, encourages the efforts made by our Holy Games organization to encourage the most vulnerable people, especially those in the most precarious situations, to take part in the shows.

It is, of course, because we hear the call of the Gospel we have just read. It’s because we’ve meditated on Psalm 84 (85) : “What does the Lord God say ? What He says is peace for His people and His faithful (...) Love and truth meet, justice and peace embrace, truth will spring from the earth and justice from heaven”.

Oh, how hard it is for the spirit of righteousness to come to us, and how we feel that our efforts must be inspired by the Lord himself : “in those days, says the prophet Isaiah, the spirit from on high will be poured out on us !”

This spirit, which comes from on high, guides our actions in these days that we are about to experience, and we pray that it will inspire so many people who will attend these Games, whether they be organizers, competitors or spectators. On the spirit of competition itself, first of all : it develops “endurance, perseverance, fighting spirit, faith in oneself, confidence in one’s abilities, the hope of doing better, a team spirit that encourages and stimulates, humility in the face of failure and adversity (and above all ...) love of one’s opponents (who) are not enemies to be defeated, but competitors whom one seeks to surpass in order to better surpass oneself” [1]. These profound words I have just quoted are those of a priest from a French diocese, a top-level sportsman who knows what he’s talking about, having practised it in his life as a man and as a priest.

Secondly, on the construction of a fraternal world. Of course, people currently at war may not be ready for such an approach during the conflict, and we must remember that during the two great world conflicts of the 20th century, the Games could not be organized. But competition lived out in the spirit I’ve just described, in honesty and mutual benevolence, can set an example and in some ways be the envy of others. Conflict resolution requires words, but the desire to achieve them needs gestures, symbols and exercises to prepare for them.

About the sense of celebration, again, and of bringing together a very diverse humanity. We have made every effort to prepare for the huge influx of visitors. The public authorities and Olympic organizations have been working for months and years to ensure that everything goes smoothly, and we know that they are well prepared. And we, the Churches and religious denominations, have taken great care to provide reception areas so that everyone, whether athlete or spectator, can be listened to, can find places for prayer or spiritual encounter, can express their faith or their search : your presence here, brothers and sisters, whether you are believers or not, attests that you are sensitive to this dimension of human life. We have also made sure that all those who might feel excluded are welcomed, encouraged to come and even well placed in the shows that would delight them.

In short, when we hear the apostle Paul addressing the Christians of Philippi, a city not so far from Olympia, encouraging them to practice “whatever is true and noble, whatever is just and pure, whatever is worthy of love and honor, all that is called virtue and worthy of praise” - we understand this to mean all human activity, all life in civil society, all commerce, but we also understand that it applies in particular to the sporting practices that have developed in our societies over the last two centuries.

And we hear Father Henri Didon’s refrain : “plus vite, plus haut, plus fort” (faster, higher, stronger) to attract young people eager to take part in life’s competition. And I hear two of my confreres in the Île-de-France region using this motto in their dioceses : “Faster, higher, stronger - together !” or : “further, higher, more brothers !” [2] May the Lord bless these Olympic Games and this Olympic truce.

Mgr Laurent Ulrich,
Archbishop of Paris