NEW VATICAN OFFICE SEES SPORTS AS "SCHOOL OF VIRTUE"

Vatican, Aug. 26 (CWNews.com) - The American priest who heads a new Vatican office dedicated to the world of sports sees his task as an important aspect of the "new evangelization."

In an interview with the Roman news agency I Media, Father Kevin Lixey said that the new office for Church and Sports-- which has been set under the aegis of the Pontifical Council for the Laity-- will work with three sorts of organizations: youth groups, amateur sports associations, and athletic professionals. The Vatican office will promote both human and spiritual virtues within the world of sports, and encourage athletes to bear witness to their Christian faith.

Father Lixey, a Michigan native who is a member of the Legionaries of Christ, explained that the office is still in its formative stages. Having been established just prior to the opening of the Olympic Games in Athens, the office is now collecting suggestions from the world's bishops on how the Holy See can respond to the challenges of the sports world. He expects the office to receive more detailed directions after the plenary meeting of the Pontifical Council for the Laity in November.

However, the young American basketball enthusiast has no doubt that there are great opportunities for evangelization among athletes. "I am convinced that in the world of sports, as in other fields of our contemporary culture, people are turning toward the Church," he said.

While some observers outside Rome were surprised when the Vatican announced the creation of the new agency, Father Lixey insists that there was no reason for such surprise, observing that the Church has always been close to athletes. He also observed that in October 2000, when he presided at the celebration of the Jubilee for Sportsmen, Pope John Paul II called for more persistent efforts to evangelize within the sporting world.

In setting up the new office, the Vatican explained that sporting competition can provide "a school for virtue and an instrument of peace among peoples." And in a message welcoming the opening of his year's Olympic Games, Pope John Paul said that athletic competition is "a universal language of human relations."

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