Olympic Games: How the Catholic Church is involving vulnerable people in the celebration

On a sunny afternoon in early August, a group of about 15 people are playing hockey in the concrete courtyard of the Eugène Napoléon Foundation (1) in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. “Can we hit each other with the hockey sticks?” jokes one participant after missing the puck. “Of course!” replies his teammate, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

Among the players are young professionals, former homeless people, a bishop and volunteers from Holy Games, the Catholic Church’s mobilization project for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. But there is no distinction between them on the field: everyone is driven by the same desire to help their team win.

The Eugène Napoléon Foundation, which normally houses a private school and a residence for young women, has become a center of solidarity since the beginning of the Olympic Games. Every other day, this large, chain-shaped building welcomes around fifty people who take part in activities organized by the Holy Games team in partnership with various anti-poverty and anti-exclusion associations that alternate every two days (such as the Saint Vincent de Paul Society and “Aux Captifs, la Libération”, the French NGO that focuses on helping the homeless, people living in extreme poverty and victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking). A mass followed by a communal meal opens the day, while the afternoon is devoted to sporting activities and watching Olympic events.

The Olympic fever for everyone

The aim of this project? To ensure that everyone, even the most vulnerable, can experience the excitement of the Games. “For us, it was unthinkable that some people would feel excluded from this global event, which is taking place in their neighbourhood, without the diocese doing its part to help the most disadvantaged,” stressed Claire Rossignol, a member of the Solidarity Team of the Diocese of Paris. On 6 August, the Association for Friendship (APA), which manages shared housing between young professionals and people who have come from the streets, moved into the foundation.

Svetlana, 46, from a residential area on the left bank of the Seine in south-west Paris, is happy to finally be able to watch the Olympics. “It’s been a week since they started and I feel like I’ve missed something. When I leave my house, I see police everywhere, metro stations are closed and crossing the Seine has become very difficult,” explained this “Friend of the APA”, a term that describes both volunteers and people in precarious situations, with her naturally reserved demeanor.

“These Games bring a bit of a dream into everyday life,” said Myriam, another member of the association, with a smile. But for this woman in her 60s, “despite the splendor of the Olympics, we must not forget that people were displaced to organize them,” she insisted, referring to the homeless “who were wiped out of the capital.”

The church serves the poorest of the poor

With the Holy Games project, the Church also wanted to enable disadvantaged people to participate in the Olympic Games. The Archdiocese of Paris purchased 500 tickets for various Olympic events (such as kayaking, athletics, rowing and weightlifting) to donate to charities including the APA, the Jesuit Refugee Service and the Order of Malta.

Claudine, 51, is excited to go to the Stade de France to watch the athletics events. The modestly off-the-grid Parisian resident considers herself “very lucky” to be able to experience the Olympics, which “will be more impressive in real life than on TV.”

For Father Romain Drouaud, pastor of Saint-Eustache parish and former resident of an APA house, it is important that “the Church reminds us that in this celebration the most vulnerable have a place, even when the spirit of competition can seduce our humanity.”

Many volunteers also sign up to “share this unique experience and live the Olympics differently,” like Timothée, 23. “Stuck in Paris for the Olympics,” he was invited by a friend to accompany a group of people with disabilities to a rowing event. Accustomed to this type of mission, the young man, who volunteers for an association that supports people with Down syndrome, immediately accepted: “The atmosphere in the stands was incredible; you couldn’t tell who had a disability and who didn’t.”

Rossignol shared this sentiment. “The shared joy is immense, a joy that moves mountains,” she stressed. “Now we must build on this momentum” so that the enthusiasm for the Games with the most disadvantaged continues beyond the Olympic fever: “What we have experienced should help build a more just society tomorrow.”