FOCUS has Varsity Catholic Missionaries in Paris to Support the Spiritual Needs of Athletes in the Olympics
As the Olympics reminded people this year, athletes endure many stressful years of rigorous training schedules. Since 2007, FOCUS' Varsity Catholic has addressed the unique needs and challenges student-athletes face, helping them develop spiritually with mentorship while also offering Christian fellowship through Bible studies and discipleship. Varsity Catholic hosts mission camps in locations such as St. Lucia, Panama, Costa Rica, Belize, Pittsburgh and Paris. These experiences provide a unique opportunity for student-athletes to facilitate a sports camp while sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Olympic Athlete Aaron Fara is competing in the Judo 100 kg for Austria and shared his story with Varsity while at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Leading up to the Olympics the VC Missionaries helped out with the @holygames2024.
The team attended the opening Mass for the Holy Games, prepared bags for the volunteers and attended the Athlete Blessing at St. Denis.
About FOCUS
FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) was founded in 1998 and invites college students into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church, inspiring and equipping them for a lifetime of Christ-centered evangelization, discipleship and friendships in which they lead others to do the same. For the 2021 – 2022 academic year, nearly 800 FOCUS missionaries are serving at 205 locations, which includes 22 parish venues across the U.S. and seven international campuses. FOCUS alumni, now nearly 40,000 strong, are living and serving in parishes and communities across the country. By 2026, FOCUS expects to have more than 70,000 alumni. An important blessing of a fruitful partnership between the local campus ministry and FOCUS has been the pursuit of religious vocations. Since 1998, more than 1,000 people have entered the seminary or a religious house of formation after involvement with FOCUS on college campuses. FOCUS expects to nearly double that number in the next five years. FOCUS missionaries are typically recent college graduates who devote two or more years of their post-collegiate lives to reach out to peers on campus. focus.org
In Paris the Olympics VC Missionary Team is composed of: Kelley Hartman, Katie Kampen, Will Koppi, and Nate Meyers. Over the next two weeks, this team will be serving the Olympic athletes on the ground in France! Fr. Joe Fitzgerald, who was on the 1996 Olympic Handball team, is serving alongside the VC Team offering sacraments to the athletes.
Leading up to the Olympics the VC Missionaries helped out with the @holygames2024.
The Holy Games; an effort by the Archdiocese of Paris and the French Bishops Conference to incorporate faith and sport.
The team attended the opening Mass for the Holy Games, prepared bags for the volunteers and attended the Athlete Blessing at St. Denis.
About FOCUS
FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) was founded in 1998 and invites college students into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church, inspiring and equipping them for a lifetime of Christ-centered evangelization, discipleship and friendships in which they lead others to do the same. For the 2021 – 2022 academic year, nearly 800 FOCUS missionaries are serving at 205 locations, which includes 22 parish venues across the U.S. and seven international campuses. FOCUS alumni, now nearly 40,000 strong, are living and serving in parishes and communities across the country. By 2026, FOCUS expects to have more than 70,000 alumni. An important blessing of a fruitful partnership between the local campus ministry and FOCUS has been the pursuit of religious vocations. Since 1998, more than 1,000 people have entered the seminary or a religious house of formation after involvement with FOCUS on college campuses. FOCUS expects to nearly double that number in the next five years. FOCUS missionaries are typically recent college graduates who devote two or more years of their post-collegiate lives to reach out to peers on campus. focus.org
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