Surfer Gabriel Medina, bronze medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Tahiti, shared this photograph on his Instagram with the biblical quote “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” / Credit: Jerome BrouilletAFP via Getty Im… […]
U.S. Olympian Cole Hocker crosses the finish line to win the men’s 1,500-meter final at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on Aug. 6, 2024. / Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images
CNA Staff, Aug 7, 2024 / 13:21 pm (CNA).
A stunn… […]
Gold medalist Novak Djokovic of Serbia poses for photographers with his medal at the presentation ceremony for the men’s singles tennis event on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Stadium during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Aug. 4, 2024. / Credit: Miguel Medina/AFP /Getty Images
CNA Staff, Aug 6, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).
Novak Djokovic on Sunday became the first tennis player in a dozen years, male or female, to complete a tennis “Golden Slam,” winning all four major annual tournaments and an Olympic gold medal.
The 37-year-old Serb, considered by many the greatest male tennis player in history, defeated the young Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz to win the gold at the Paris Olympics.
Many Catholics took note of the fact that an elated Djokovic made the sign of the cross several times after winning the match — but you may also have noticed that he did the sign of the cross from right to left, rather than the typical Catholic left to right.
Novak Djokovic, a devout Orthodox Christian, gets down on his hands and knees to thank God after his victory at the Paris Olympics. ✝️🥇
The Serbian tennis champion, has won his first Olympic gold medal, after competing in 5 separate Olympic Games. pic.twitter.com/shsTXXu3MK
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) August 4, 2024
Djokovic is a Serbian Orthodox Christian. The sign of the cross is rich with meaning for all Christians, including Catholics, but the Orthodox practice, which is arguably more ancient, adds additional levels of meaning.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the very earliest Christian practice appears to be the tracing of the sign of the cross of one’s forehead, which later evolved into the practice of making a sign of the cross across a larger portion of the body. St. Basil (329–379) wrote that the apostles “taught us to mark with the sign of the cross those who put their hope in the Lord.”
When Catholics do the sign of the cross today, they cross themselves with their hand starting at the top, going down, and then from left to right. When Orthodox Christians do the sign of the cross, they start at the top, go down, and then from right to left.
Many Orthodox sources say part of the reason that the sign of the cross is done in this direction is because during the Orthodox Divine Liturgy — the equivalent of the Mass — the Orthodox priest does the sign of the cross from left to right, facing the people, who copy his movements in mirror image. That said, the exact reasons for the differences are ancient and not entirely clear even to the Orthodox themselves.
There’s another level of meaning in the Orthodox sign of the cross, though, that is more readily documented. The Orthodox hold their hand with the index and middle fingers and thumb together, a symbol of the three persons of the Holy Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — together as one God. The two fingers, ring and pinky, that remain down symbolize the two natures of Jesus: fully human and fully divine.
Djokovic was brought up in the Serbian Orthodox Church, which claims the majority of the country’s citizens and several million members worldwide. He grew up during a tumultuous time in the region and survived the wars between the Yugoslavian states.
In 2011, Djokovic was awarded the Serbian Orthodox Church’s highest honor “for his active love toward Mother Church, particularly fervent and persistent helping [of] the Serbian people and the sanctuaries of our Holy Church.”
He has donated several million dollars to the Serbian public health system and to charities run by the Serbian Orthodox Church.
“This is the most important title of my life, because before being an athlete, I am an Orthodox Christian,” he said upon receiving the award.
Despite Djokovic’s frequent displays of a cross necklace, performance of the sign of the cross, and talk of God, a 2015 biography of Djokovic opined that “[i]t would wrong to suggest that he is devoutly religious, but the ritualistic role the church plays in the life of Serbia is sufficiently strong that it is very much a part of his life.”
Still, the tennis champ has shown himself to be a person animated by love of neighbor. He runs the Novak Djokovic Foundation, which primarily focuses on rebuilding preschools and supporting teachers and parents of young schoolchildren. And in 2017, he opened a restaurant in Serbia that provides free food to the homeless.
“It‘s very sad that the Olympics, created to unite people, are now used to divide them,” says Jacopo Coghe of Italy’s Pro Vita & Famiglia (Pro Life and Family) association. / Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
ACI Prensa Staff, Aug… […]
Algeria’s Imane Khelif (in red) punches Italy’s Angela Carini in the women’s 66kg preliminaries round of 16 boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena in Villepinte on Aug. 1, 2024. / Credit: MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 1, 2024 / 16:46 pm (CNA).
An Algerian boxer with male chromosomes defeated an Italian woman boxer in an Olympics boxing match on Thursday after landing a devastating punch to the woman’s face in the brief 46-second fight.
The winning boxer — Imane Khelif — has XY chromosomes, according to a 2023 International Boxing Association eligibility test that got the boxer disqualified from the World Championships that year.
Typically, men have XY chromosomes and women have XX chromosomes, but a person born with a sexual development disorder can sometimes have both male and female sexual characteristics, such as someone born with Swyer syndrome having XY chromosomes and female genitalia.
Khelif has never publicly identified as transgender and has not disclosed any sexual development disorders, so the reason for the test result is unclear. Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, who was also disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for tests showing XY chromosomes, will also compete against women in the 2024 Olympics.
Both Khelif and Lin competed in the 2020 Olympics as well, prior to the release of those tests.
Angela Carini, who lost the fight to Khelif, left the boxing ring in tears and refused to shake Khelif’s hand. While still in the ring, she reportedly yelled “this is unjust,” according to the New York Post.
In a post-fight interview, Carini said she had “never been hit so hard in my life,” according to the Post. According to Yahoo Sports, she apologized to her country after the game for only lasting 46 seconds into the fight.
“I had entered the ring to fight,” Carini said, according to Yahoo. “I didn’t give up, but a punch hurt too much and so I said enough. I go out with my head held high.”
The article also reported that Carini’s coach, Emanuel Renzini, said postgame that many people discouraged her from competing in the fight, telling her: “Don’t go, don’t go, please. She’s a man. It’s dangerous for you.”
Mary Rice Hasson, the director of the Person and Identity Project at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA that a sexual development disorder “does not make someone ‘not male’” and that “genetics don’t lie.”
“The [International Olympic Committee’s] decision to permit males who self-identify as ‘women’ to participate in women’s sports — particularly a physically brutal sport like boxing — is unconscionable,” Hasson said. “The female Italian boxer stopped the match because she felt her life was in danger, after being pummeled by the male Algerian boxer for less than a minute.”
Hasson said the situation “exposes, on the world stage, the ludicrous nature of the ‘transgender’ charade” and added that “males and females are biologically different, from conception, and sex cannot change.” She said the committee’s “wokeness” violates “the true Olympic spirit of fair competition [and] … degrades and endangers female competitors.”
Former swimmer Riley Gaines — who competed against the biologically male transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in college — said in a post on X that the Olympic fight “is glorified male violence against women.”
“Call me crazy, but it’s almost as if women don’t want to be punched in the face by a male as the world watches and applauds,” Gaines said.
Khelif’s next Olympic match is scheduled for Saturday against Hungarian boxer Luca Anna Hamori. Lin’s first match is scheduled for Friday against Uzbekistani boxer Sitora Turdibekova.
Brazil’s Rayssa Leal reacts as she competes in the women’s street skateboarding final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at La Concorde in Paris on July 28, 2024. / Credit: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul… […]
Father Joseph Fitzgerald and the Varsity Catholic missionaries are among the 40 Catholic priests, nuns, and laypeople offering spiritual support to the Olympic athletes in Paris. / Credit: Amber Moseley/FOCUS Varsity Catholic
Washington, D.C. N… […]
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. / Credit: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images; Grzegorz Wajda/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
CNA Staff, Jul 30, 2024 / 16:22 pm (CNA).
Top governme… […]
Father Jason Nioka, a recently ordained French priest who is in charge of the Catholic chaplains at the 2024 Paris Olympics. / Credit: EWTN News In Depth Screenshot
CNA Staff, Jul 30, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Father Jason Nioka was ordained a Cat… […]
The Olympic flag flutters during a practice session at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on July 24, 2024, ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games. / Credit: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 29, 2024 / 12:40 pm (CNA).
With … […]
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