Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, sent that message to the conference whose theme was “Religion, Peace and the Olympic Ideal.”
Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople presided at the Aug. 10-11 conference.
Cardinal Kasper was unable to attend the event, but sent an address, which was read by the papal nuncio in Greece.
In his address the cardinal emphasized the “importance of a vision of the world where peoples engage in a peaceful and loyal competition, forgetting their legitimate interests.” Thus he recalled John Paul II’s words on the importance of the Olympic Games as a fraternal competition.
Organizers said the conference aimed to present “the vision of a world in which all peoples, in peaceful competition and a harmonious society, pursue their legitimate interests, beyond discrimination, and contribute to the construction of a harmonious society, free, just and respectful of human values.”
