Twenty-four hour exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will be held in
St Francis of Assisi’s church, Stratford, east London, throughout the
Olympic Games, it has been announced.
Not just in London but throughout the country the Church is gearing up for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Priests
and religious will be on hand in the Olympic Village for athletes,
coaches and officials, with chaplains available for visitors to the
Games.
Spiritual and pastoral hospitality centres at St Francis’s church
and at Westminster Cathedral will offer Masses in different languages,
talks by priests, and will also provide a place for volunteers at the
Games to “chill out”, according to Frank van Velzen, assistant Catholic
coordinator of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Church is a leading participant in More Than Gold,
an ecumenical venture to involve Christians in the Olympics, supporting
competitors and visitors with “outreach”, hospitality and service.
Every parish is being encouraged to become involved, providing a Gold
Champion who will be a link between More Than Gold and the local
Christian community.
There will be festivals both in London and
around Britain, and Christian witness on the streets, with “street
pastors” at stations around London.
In just one of many activities being
planned, four Christian theatre groups will put on plays related to the
Olympics.
The Church will also be promoting Christian activity at
sports fields around the country. Mr van Velzen said: “Sports mission
is about taking the Church outside the building in the hope of getting
people back into it. It’s meeting the people where they’re at.”
Major
sporting events often lead to an increase in prostitution, and with the
Olympics thousands of athletes, journalists and spectators will
converge on London – as will people traffickers.
More than Gold will
raise awareness of this issue and provide safe havens.