Sport - Social - Lifestyles & values

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The health professionals tell us that to stay fit and healthy we not only need to eat well, but do regular exercise. This is advice which certainly doesn't conflict with my Catholic faith. In fact the Church teaches me that my body is a temple; that I am a steward of my body and have a responsibility to look after it.

"Staying and keeping fit, O.K., but what about competitive sports? Is competitiveness against religious values?"

The quick answer to this question is 'no.'

Within a team sport you should find values such as loyalty, friendship, honesty and team spirit. A competitive environment within sport can help to nurture these qualities and values.


	"A sense of brotherhood, generosity, honesty and respect for one's body... held to build a civil society where antagonism is replaced by healthy competition." Pope John Paul II, Jubilee of Sports People, Sat. 28th October, 2000.

The Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church worldwide, says that team sports can be used to promote solidarity between people's and can teach people to compete without conflict. He says that sport can help build bridges between different races and cultures.

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Lifestyles & values:

Sport.
Life4seekers response

Your guide for this section is Tillie. She is 22, and lives in Leeds. Click here to read her story.

Competition in sport can be a healthy way of channelling our energies and fostering team work and friendships. But what about if your team is on the on the losing side?

Not all life is about success, and learning to lose, and be a sporting loser, can be as important a lesson as learning to win and be a champion.

What truly matters in the end is the kind of competitor, player and/or supporter you are. Winning is enjoyable, but if it means you've had to lie and cheat, even become violent, to get a result, that 'result' is meaningless.


	"Winners never quit and quitters never win." ANON. Taken from www.quoteland.com

Pause for thought - Image of a log bridge ona pretty stream

At a time when drug abuse, drunken brawls and hooliganism seem to be an on-going problem in sport, the values shared on this page seem to be particularly pertinent.

What do you think?

This is a website of the Catholic Enquiry Office; part of an Agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

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