Pope Francis tells Athletes "With God's help, we run together , let us run together, for fraternity and human dignity." Full Text

GREETING FROM THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SOLIDARITY SPORTS INITIATIVE "WE RUN TOGETHER"

Saturday, 5th September 2020

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Dear friends and dear sports friends, good morning, once again!

Together, on May 20, we launched the We Run Together sporting initiative , as support and thanks for two realities at the forefront of assisting coronavirus patients: the Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo and the Poliambulanza Foundation in Brescia. Today a representative of their staff is present here. Welcome! And greeting you, I greet all your colleagues in Italy and around the world who work with sacrifice alongside the sick. God reward you for your efforts!

And today I would also like to thank many athletes from various countries, who have offered various sports items for the solidarity auction. I was very pleased to know that some athletes have also opened the door of their home for the joy of a direct meeting. And this is important: to open the door of your home is to open your heart. It is a signal [to say]: "I open my heart".

Indeed, the We Run Together initiative brought together famous champions and other champions who carry a disability and thus honor sport on the same level of human and sporting dignity. An inclusive, fraternal sport, also capable of healing wounds, building bridges, building social friendship. This, especially for the younger ones, is an eloquent message. It is a real sport, it always has that amateurish dimension, the amateur … It's free. Cardinal [Ravasi] said the word "gratuitousness". It is typical of amateur sport .

I am happy that you of "Athletica Vaticana" are continuing this way of experiencing sport. Keep it up! And I hope that you will be able to hold the Meeting that was scheduled for last spring as soon as possible, in collaboration with the Guardia di Finanza, the “Cortile dei Gentili” and Fidal Lazio. In the meantime, I am pleased to offer some of my interventions on the theme of sport in a new book from the Vatican Publishing House.

Thank you all for what you do and for this meeting. With God's help, we run together , let us run together, for fraternity and human dignity. Thank you!