Few global events bring people together quite like the Olympics. And while the summer games in Tokyo lack large in-person crowds because of the pandemic, the events still delight excited fans tuning in from all over the world. I relish the occasion of the Olympics and have transmitted my enthusiasm to my family. During the two weeks of competition, you can safely bet that I am regularly refreshing results and waiting until after work to turn on the live coverage.
Georgetown is also celebrating these summer games by highlighting the Hoyas who are participating in them (you can visit the #HoyaOlympics site). At SCS, we are especially proud of Rachel Schneider, a graduate of the Master’s in Sports Industry Management program and a runner competing in the 1,500-meter race. The dedication required by athletes to qualify for the games, let alone compete in them, engenders enormous pride and respect.
More than pride and national spirit, I have been wondering about the purpose of the Olympics and what we all can learn from them. Are there important moral and spiritual lessons to be gleaned from this intensive competition? How do sports, and particularly the industry surrounding them, relate to Georgetown’s mission and values?
To help appreciate some answers to these questions, I would like to focus this week on some of Pope Francis’s reflections about the deeper purpose of sports. An avid soccer (he’d say fútbol) fan himself, energetically dedicated to his Argentinian teams, Pope Francis has not been shy about expressing the spiritual, moral, and social value of athletic competition. A few years ago, Georgetown hosted a Vatican-sponsored conference on these very questions: “Sport at the Service of Humanity.” The three pillars of that conference reflect a helpful framework for appreciating how sports can build community and foster character: inspiration, inclusion, and involvement. The conference schedule, which included an interfaith service with participation from Georgetown student-athletes and panel discussions featuring leading experts in religion, sports, and culture, demonstrated the deep linkages between sports, mission, and values.
Pope Francis emphasizes the ways that sport can encourage a practice of encounter where people of different backgrounds and traditions meet one another and grow in belonging, inclusion, and solidarity. This theme of encounter, which Francis has echoed throughout his writings and teachings including the recent encyclical Fratelli Tutti, can become a powerful antidote to the cultural, political, and economic tendencies toward separation and isolation. The pope’s 2013 comments to the European Olympic Committee capture this idea:
“Engaging in sports, in fact, rouses us to go beyond ourselves and our self interests in a healthy way; it trains the spirit in sacrifice and, if it is organized well, it fosters loyalty in interpersonal relations, friendship, and respect for rules. It is important that those involved at the various levels of sports promote human and religious values which form the foundation of a just and fraternal society. This is possible because the language of sports is universal; it extends across borders, language, race, religion, and ideology; it possesses the capacity to unite people, together, by fostering dialogue and acceptance.”
Sports have the transformative potential of bridging differences through a common language that is universally recognized. In this way, sports are, according to Pope Francis, a valuable resource.
While the sports industry is capable of ethical lapses and corruption in many forms, sports can also build the bonds of community and personal integrity. Teamwork and overcoming one’s own preferences provide valuable opportunities to transcend tendencies toward selfishness and intolerance of others. On this theme of inclusion, Pope Francis made news in 2020 by meeting with leaders from the National Basketball Association (NBA) to discuss their efforts around racial justice and inclusion.
With more exciting Olympics coverage to come, I invite you to reflect on the deeper purpose of sports and how your role in sports, whether as fan, participant, or industry manager, can “rouse you” to go beyond yourself and contribute to the common good.