Olympics opening ceremony live updates as 2026 Winter Games kick off in Milano Cortina

Pope Leo XIV, passionate about sport, marked the start of the Winter Games on Friday by extolling the positive values ​​of sport and fair play while warning that the quest for profit and performance risked corrupting sport entirely.

In a message titled “Life in Abundance,” Leo traced the history of Christian philosophers and popes who identified sports and leisure activities as beneficial to physical and spiritual development.

He called for sports to be accessible to both the poor and women, in particular, and for fans to refrain from turning sports into a fanatical religion. Athletes too, he said, must refrain from narcissism and obsession with their image and success.

“The cult of image and performance, amplified by the media and digital platforms, risks fragmenting the person, by separating the body from the mind,” he warned.

Real sport, he said, calls for a “shared ethical agreement” among competitors, where the rules of the game are accepted and the integrity of the competition is respected.

“Accepting the limits of your body, the limits of time and fatigue, and respecting the established rules is recognizing that success comes from discipline, perseverance and loyalty,” he said.

Leo, 70, plays tennis religiously and swims, and is a Long-time fan of the Chicago White Sox.

The pontiff drew on his experience as a tennis player in his message, emphasizing the cultural and spiritual benefits of the so-called “flow experience,” of being challenged beyond one’s level, that fans and players can experience during an extended tennis rally.

“The reason this is one of the most enjoyable parts of a match is that each player pushes the other to the limit of their skill level,” Leo wrote. “The experience is exhilarating and both players challenge each other to improve; this is as true for two ten-year-olds as it is for two professional champions.”

-CBS/AP