In fact, the relationship between the Olympics and religion is rather complex. History.com tells us that “the Olympic Games, which originated in ancient Greece as many as 3,000 years ago, were revived in the late 19th century and have become the world’s preeminent sporting competition.” That gap had a lot to do with Christian objections to the pagan games. We can certainly hope and pray that the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, which begin on February 6, will respect everyone’s religious beliefs, and, Bishop Paprocki writes, “I intend to watch them with that hope in mind.”
