Vatican’s Olympic Message Omits Christ’s Kingship
The VaticanNews portal (January 30, 2026) reports that “Pope” Leo XIV urged athletes at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics to embrace “fair play, respect, team spirit, and sacrifice,” alongside “social inclusion and the joy of encounter.” The message, delivered via his “cardinal” secretary Pietro Parolin during a Mass in Como, frames sport as a vehicle for humanistic values while erasing the supernatural ends of human activity.
Reduction of the Church’s Mission to Naturalistic Humanism
The text’s emphasis on “social inclusion” and “encounter” constitutes a deliberate rejection of Regnum Christi (the Reign of Christ) over all temporal affairs. Pius XI’s encyclical Quas primas (1925) explicitly condemned such secularization, declaring: “Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast [of Christ the King] that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ”. By contrast, Leo XIV’s message treats sport as an autonomous domain governed by anthropocentric virtues, implicitly denying Dominus Iesus (the Lordship of Jesus) over athletic competitions.
Olympic Paganism Disguised as Christian Witness
The call for “generous Christian witness” devoid of doctrinal content epitomizes the conciliar sect’s apostasy. Authentic Catholic teaching requires public submission to Christ’s authority, not vague gestures of “fraternity.” As the Syllabus of Errors (1864) condemns:
“The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80).
The Olympic Games—rooted in pagan Greek traditions glorifying human excellence—directly contradict St. Paul’s admonition: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). Nowhere does the message demand athletes reject the event’s inherent naturalism or proclaim Christ as King.
Silence on the Primacy of Grace Exposes Modernist Dogma
Leo XIV’s praise for “sacrifice” and “team spirit” reduces Christian asceticism to worldly moralism. True sacrifice, as defined by the Council of Trent, is “offered to God alone in propitiation for sins” through the Mass. The message’s omission of the Cross, redemption, or the sacraments reveals its foundation in Modernist subjectivism—condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili sane (1907) as the error that “truth changes with man, because it develops with him, in him, and through him” (Proposition 58).
Ecumenical “Joy of Encounter” as Religious Indifferentism
The phrase “joy of encounter” tacitly endorses the heresy of indifferentism, condemned by Pius IX: “Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ” (Syllabus, Proposition 17). By equating Catholic parishes with secular sporting bodies, the message denies the Church’s exclusive role as arcæ salutis (ark of salvation).
Apostate Liturgy Underpins the Message
The Mass celebrated in Como—presumed to be the Novus Ordo—lacks the propitiatory character of the True Sacrifice. As Pius XII taught: “The worship rendered by the Church to God must be, in its entirety, interior as well as exterior” (Mediator Dei, 1947). The conciliar sect’s ritual, however, centers on human assembly rather than divine worship, rendering its “blessings” spiritually void.
Source:
Pope Leo urges Olympic athletes to foster respect, team spirit, sacrifice (vaticannews.va)
Date: 30.01.2026