The 32nd Olympic Games Begin in Tokyo, Japan under Pandemic Restrictions and a Canceled Pastoral Program for Athletes - VIDEO

The Olympic Games has begun in Tokyo, Japan on Friday, July 23rd, 2021. The world's best athletes are going to compete amid the COVID-19 pandemic which was delayed for 1 year.
Fireworks (see Video below) lit up the night sky on Friday as the 32nd Olympic Games in Tokyo started. They will last until August 8th.
There were fewer than 1,000 people in attendance for the opening which included the Japanese Emperor Naruhito.
There are more than 11,300 athletes from 207 nations competing in these games for 339 medals for 33 sports. Five new sports have also been introduced. There is also a team of refugee athletes competing under the Olympic flag. 

The Tokyo Archdiocese canceled it pastoral programme for athletes due to pandemic Ahead of the opening ceremony for the 32nd Olympic Games. Japan has recorded 848,000 infections and more than 15,000 deaths which has forced the revision of all programmes on the calendar. 

Among the events, planned by a special diocesan Olympic Committee, was an international Mass to be celebrated in the local cathedral and the creation of a special Rosary to be given to all participants in the Games. The athletes will not be able to leave the Olympic Village, nor will priests have access to it.  The liturgical celebrations will still be broadcast online.

 In a note, the Archbishop of Tokyo, Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, explains:   

Under the state of emergency, the Olympics will soon be followed by the Paralympics. Prior to the Corona disaster, for several years, the Organizing Committee and religious groups have been preparing to meet the religious needs of athletes at the religious center set up in the Olympic Village. .. I hear that this is stipulated in the Olympic Charter.

In addition, we continued to consider various measures in parishes for people from all over the world to watch the Olympic games. In order to respond to the request from the Organizing Committee and considering the response in the parish, the Tokyo parish has appointed an Olympic response team, centered on Father Marco, for example, preparing a rosary on five continents, and in the cathedral I was planning an international mass and preparing for it. Rosario on the five continents was also thinking of giving it as a gift to the players and people involved.

Unfortunately, the corona wreck caused everything to go bankrupt. After all, athletes cannot leave the Olympic Village, and we religious people cannot enter the Olympic Village. Therefore, in response to the request of the Organizing Committee, we made it online. The parish headquarters prepares various videos, all of which are passed to the Organizing Committee and provided to the Olympic Village under its control. For more information, see this week's Catholic newspaper. For that reason, the Rosary on the five continents is in stock at the parish headquarters. If you wish, we will ask you to donate some actual expenses, but we will share it from the parish headquarters. See this week's Catholic newspaper for how to apply.

Also, since there are no spectators, no one comes from all over the world. Therefore, no special action is required in the parish.

The Bishops' General Assembly was held from July 12th to 15th. This time, I made a hybrid and separated the bishops who came to Shiomi and the bishops online, but I managed to manage the agenda including the subcommittee. I think that the decisions will be published in Catholic newspapers at a later date, so I will hand them over to them. Behind the Catholic Hall in Shiomi, there is the Tatsumi International Swimming Pool, which has a good shape, and a new Olympic pool has been created on the right. A temporary parking lot was set up on the metropolitan land behind the Catholic Hall, probably to park the bus that goes there. I pray that it will be held safely.

The rainy season is over in Tokyo, but a rainbow appeared in the evening sky immediately after the heavy rain like the squall the other day.

Source: https://tokyo.catholic.jp/archbishop/message/42523/