University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh at his introductory press conference on Dec. 30, 2014. / Eric Upchurch, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Denver, Colo., Jul 26, 2022 / 11:29 am (CNA).
After receiving criticism on social media a… […]
Real Madrid’s Brazilian defender Marcelo holds their trophy during the club’s celebration of their 14th European Cup at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on May 29, 2022, a day after beating Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League final in Paris. – Real Madrid claimed a 14th European Cup as Vinicius Junior’s goal saw them beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final at the Stade de France amid chaotic scenes yesterday. / Oscar del Pozo/AFP via Getty Images.
Lima, Peru, May 31, 2022 / 12:25 pm (CNA).
Real Madrid CF returned Sunday to Spain after winning the EUFA Champions League final, and offered the Virgin of Almudena both this trophy and that it won April 30 by winning the Spanish football league.
Real Madrid won the May 28 Champions League Fiinal 1-0 against Liverpool F.C. The match was played in Paris and the winning goal was scored by Vinicius Junior in the 59th minute. This is the 14th time that Real Madrid has won the European football competition.
The team, which was received by tens of thousands of fans in the streets of the Spanish capital May 29, went to Almudena Cathedral in the evening and was received by Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid.
🏆 🏆 Así fue la foto de familia en la Catedral de la Almudena.#RealMadrid | #CHAMP14NS | #CAMPEON35 pic.twitter.com/p89OCRV0us
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) May 29, 2022
It is not the first time that Real Madrid has offered the Champions League trophy to Our Lady.
During the visit, Cardinal Osoro greeted the players “with affection and joy”, saying that “it is stimulating to share a path with others, to support each other in the search for success.”
As reported by the Archdiocese of Madrid, the cardinal thanked them for taking the name of the Spanish capital to as many corners as did Saint Isidore the Farmer, “a simple man with presences on all continents,” to whom a Holy Year is being dedicated in the Archdiocese of Madrid.
During the brief ceremony, Real Madrid’s public relations director, former footballer Emilio Butragueño, read some petitions, one of which asked that those present experience “the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary.”
Gran expectación en la Almudena para recibir al @realmadrid tras su decimocuarta Champions pic.twitter.com/QkA193Jv5N
— Archidiócesis de Madrid (@archimadrid) May 29, 2022
Sarah Escobar represents Ecuador in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics / YouTube screenshot taken from ecuadorolimpicotv
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 12, 2022 / 11:48 am (CNA).
When Sarah Escobar packed her bags for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olym… […]
Landry Weber, a K-State player who is discerning and intends to enter seminary. / Courtesy photo.
Salina, Kan., Jan 7, 2022 / 16:15 pm (CNA).
There are nearly 500,000 college athletes, and of those, about 2% will embark in a professional sports… […]
Pope Francis with members of the ‘Pope’s Team – Fratelli tutti’ in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, Nov. 20, 2021. / Vatican Media.
Vatican City, Nov 20, 2021 / 08:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis met with members of a soccer squad known as the “Pope’s … […]
Pope Francis holds a soccer ball in St. Peter’s Square during the Wednesday general audience on Aug. 26, 2015. L’Osservatore Romano. / null
Vatican City, Nov 11, 2021 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis will field a soccer team from the Vatican in a friendly match against a team of Roma people later this month.
The soccer match, which is intended to counter racism and discrimination, will be played on Nov. 21, in the town of Formello, 45 minutes north of Italy’s capital.
The match will also raise funds for a Roma inclusion project organized by the Diocese of Rome.
The pope’s team has been named “Fratelli Tutti,” after his 2020 encyclical, and includes members of the Swiss Guard, Vatican employees and their children, priests working in the Roman Curia, three young immigrants, and a young man with Down syndrome.
The team of the Roma (or Romani) minority has been assembled by the World Roma Organization, which has its headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia, and runs inclusive sporting events with special attention to minorities and people with disabilities.
The day before the match, Nov. 20, Pope Francis will meet both teams at the Vatican.
According to recent estimates by police, just over 4,000 Romani people live in Italy’s capital city, in both authorized and illegal camps. This is a 35-40% decrease from 2017, the police said, adding that this shows that attempts to integrate the ethnic minority into wider Italian society are working.
The Nov. 21 soccer match, organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture, is an initiative of Pope Francis, who has often emphasized the benefits of sports for enriching people’s lives.
In a Feb. 19 meeting with an Italian soccer team, the pope said that “sports, and also soccer, are a path of life, of maturity, and of holiness.”
Pope Francis also met with impoverished Roma people when he visited a ghetto during his trip to Slovakia in September.
During the Sept. 14 meeting, he told the Roma people that the Catholic Church is their home and they should never “worry about whether you will be at home there.”
“Nobody ought ever to keep you or anyone else away from the Church,” the pope emphasized.
The gathering took place in the Luník IX district of the Slovakian city of Košice, where an estimated 7,500 Roma people live in buildings built to hold just 2,500.
In his address, Pope Francis said: “Dear brothers and sisters, all too often you have been the object of prejudice and harsh judgments, discriminatory stereotypes, defamatory words and gestures. As a result, we are all poorer, poorer in humanity.”
“Restoring dignity means passing from prejudice to dialogue, from introspection to integration,” he continued, explaining that this can be carried out through concern, pastoral care, patience, and concrete efforts.”
“All these things will bear fruit,” he underlined. “Not immediately, but in due time those fruits will be seen.”
Public domain.
Hartford, Conn., Oct 5, 2021 / 13:01 pm (CNA).
The Knights of Columbus are releasing a four part series presentation exploring the historical connection between the fraternal organization and America’s pastime, baseball. “For… […]
Paralympics Games 2016, basketball, USA vs. Turkey / A.RICARDO/Shutterstock
Washington D.C., Aug 30, 2021 / 10:01 am (CNA).
A Catholic disability advocate praised an increase of television and media coverage for this year’s Paralympic Games, say… […]
Brian Siemann competes in the 2016 paralympic trials in Charlotte, North Carolina. Credit: Maria Siemann. / null
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 26, 2021 / 17:49 pm (CNA).
After praying to St. Gerard about fertility problems, Teresa Siemann got m… […]
Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz proudly displays her Olympics gold medal and the Miraculous Medal, a devotional medallion depicting the Virgin Mary. / Hidilyn Diaz’s Instagram Stories
Washington D.C., Aug 10, 2021 / 12:01 pm (CNA).
The games of the 32nd Olympiad closed on Sunday, bringing an end to more than two weeks of competitions featuring the world’s most talented athletes with a global audience.
Some competitors, however, made it clear that they were playing not only for national pride and a piece of hardware, but also for a greater purpose.
Here are some moments where athletes shared their faith on the world’s stage:
A Miraculous Medal for a miraculous victory
On the third day of the games, Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz won the first-ever Olympic gold medal for her country. Diaz, who competed in the women’s 55kg event, set an Olympic record with her clean and jerk of 127kg and a combined weight of 224kg. Her gold medal improved on her second-place finish at the 2016 games in Rio.
Images of Diaz’s visibly emotional face on her final lift went viral, and after she successfully completed the lift, she repeatedly said “Thank you, Lord” and clutched her Miraculous Medal necklace.
After the Philippine national anthem was played at the medal ceremony, Diaz stepped down from the podium, made the Sign of the Cross, and shouted “Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!” (“Long live the Philippines!”)
Glorifying God in the pool
South African swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker left Tokyo with a gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke and a surprise silver in the 100-meter breaststroke. Schoenmaker swam with a pair of cross-shaped earrings, and underneath her official Team South Africa-issued swim cap, Schoenmaker donned a white swim cap with the words “Soli Deo Gloria” (“Glory to God Alone”) written on it.
#TatjanaSchoenmaker gave glory to God before and after winning Gold. That’s faith. 👏✝️ pic.twitter.com/grtk11SZe1
— Daryl (@darylbahadur1) August 5, 2021
That swim cap was on display during the qualifying rounds in the 100-meter breaststroke, as her country’s cap nearly fell off her head in both races.
Sydney McLaughlin and Team USA run to glorify God
Sydney McLaughlin wrote on her Instagram following her first gold medal win that she prayed “my journey may be a clear depiction of submission and obedience to God.”
“I have never seen God fail in my life. In anyone’s life for that matter. Just because I may not win every race, or receive every one of my heart’s desires, does not mean God had failed. His will is PERFECT,” she said.
After winning her second gold medal – on her 22nd birthday – McLaughlin thanked God for another year of life, and wrote that she looks “forward to unveiling where it takes me as you continue to establish my steps.”
McLaughlin’s teammates are vocal about their faiths as well. Athing Mu, a 19-year-old breakout star of the games, posted that her year had been one of faith and perseverance.
“In the end, I chose to grasp onto God and allow Him to take complete control of my life. It allowed me to take a step back, learn how to trust Him entirely and HAVE FAITH,” she said.
Marileidy Paulino wears her faith on her feet
Marileidy Paulino, the Dominican Republic track star, is leaving Tokyo with two silver medals: one in the mixed 4×400 relay, and another in the 400. She’s the first woman ever from the Dominican Republic to win an Olympic medal.
After her second-place finish in the 400, Paulino told the Associated Press that she considered her medal a “miracle,” as she had only been running that distance for one year.
On her spikes, Paulino wrote “Dios es mi esperanza,” Spanish for “God is my hope.”
Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic shows words written on one of her shoes which reads ‘God is my hope’ – Dios es mi esperenza- after winning silver in the women’s 400-m final at the Tokyo Olympics. pic.twitter.com/Fu1Vj6EF3z
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) August 7, 2021
Wrestler goes viral for praising the Lord and her country
Female wrestlers are not household names in the United States, but Tamyra Mensah-Stock’s interview after winning gold in the Women’s 68kg freestyle competition went viral.
“It’s by the grace of God I’m able to move my feet. I just leave it in His hands,” she said, adding that she prayed that all of her hard work would be worth it.
“And every single time it does, and I get better and better,” she said. “I’m excited to see what I have next.”
Jesus makes all things new
Nicola McDermott of Australia took the silver medal in women’s high jump competition, jumping a personal best 2.02 meters in the final. During each competition, McDermott not only wrote in her journal, but also wrote a devotional passage on her wrist.
For the final, McDermott wrote “JESUS makes all things new,” with a cross drawn underneath. She told Australian media following her medal win that when she was a teenager, she was “always an outcast” before joining a church.
“I got welcomed into a faith community that loved me. I remember encountering God’s love and it changed the way that I thought of myself as a misfit,” she said.
© Catholic World Report