Vatican City, Aug 21, 2016 / 07:27 am
While Pope Francis has often spoken about sports as a means of fellowship and fraternity, the message has a special resonance in his August prayer intention, which coincided with the Rio Summer Olympics.
Released Aug. 2, just a few days before Rio 2016 began, the Pope's prayer video for the month shows athletes displaying their skills at different sports, while the Pope, sitting at his desk, offers his prayer that sports would be an opportunity for encounter and fraternity.
The images used in the brief, 1 minute, 30 second video are particularly symbolic, given Francis' frequent insistence on tearing down walls and fostering dialogue among peoples.
As the athletes show off their talent in sports such as soccer, tennis, table tennis, volleyball and rugby, they throw or kick their balls against brick wall, breaking it apart blow by blow with large holes caused by their swing and strength.