Vol. 1 No. 1, February 2022

The Popes on Sport as a Tool for the promotion of Peace and Development (20th–21st centuries)

Prof. Dr. Dries Vanysacker

Abstract

On the basis of archival sources, published contemporary sources and available literature, we can state that the attitude of popes Pius X (1903/14), Pius XI (1922/39) and Pius XII (1939/58) toward modern sport was far from being negative or dismissive. On the contrary, it can be said from the many messages, writings, audiences and initiatives of these popes that there was indeed a muscular Catholicism parallel to the muscular Christianity of the Protestants and Anglicans. The attitude of successive popes towards sport and physical culture has always been one of constant interest, openness and appreciation of its many potentialities, even in times when it was being exploited by ideologies. The fact that the muscular Catholicism supported by the popes until the 1960s of the 20th century focused almost exclusively on boys and men must be seen in a wider contemporary ecclesiastical and social context. Whereas the vision of Pope John XXIII (1958/63) still was very parallel to his predecessors, Vatican II and especially the Constitution ‘Gaudium et Spes’ about the Church in the modern world, would approach in its article 61 sport as an autonomous part of culture that could make an excellent contribution to spiritual balance, both in individual and in community life, and to the establishment of peace and defraternal contacts of all classes, peoples or races. Paul VI (1963/1978) would implement these visions. Besides in the 1960’s, the theological anthropology changed under the influence of existential to a holistic view, in which man was seen as an incarnated spirit. These visions would be very obvious since the magisterium of John Paul II (1978/2005), followed by his successors Benedict XVI (2005/13) and Francis (2013-). In this contribution we will focus especially on those popes who elaborated the vision of Sport as a Tool for the promotion of Peace and Development, to know from Pope Paul VI onwards. A good guide to this research is Giving the best of yourself: A document about the Christian perspective on sport and the human person, that was published by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life in 2018.

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