To prepare for Olympics, Turin's faith communities worked together

Published: 2006-02-14

TURIN, Italy (CNS) -- The Olympics have done more than bring athletes from 85 different nations together to compete; the games have brought Turin's Christian, Jewish and Muslim representatives together for the first time to collaborate. Cardinal Severino Poletto of Turin said that, while Catholic relations with the city's Waldensian and Orthodox churches have long been strong, interaction with the city's Jewish and Muslim leaders had been limited. "There were never any big initiatives involving non-Christian" religions, he told Catholic News Service in mid-February. But when Turin won the bid to host the Feb. 10-26 Olympics, that changed. A host city must provide spiritual assistance to all athletes and team members, so an interfaith committee made up of local religious representatives is set up years before the games begin. The Olympic interfaith committee's Catholic representative, Father Aldo Bertinetti, said working together has been such a positive experience that members have decided to remain united as a group even after the games.

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .