Opinion

For many people, sport has replaced the religious experience

Stadiums and pitches have become the new cathedrals and temples

Supporters watching the Dublin-Meath football championship semi-final at Croke Park last year. Photograph: Brian Reilly-Troy/Inpho

Gerard Gallagher
Mon Nov 7 2022 - 00:11

Sport has the capacity to bring people together, crossing barriers, uniting spectators and participants. It can bring us all moments of joy, despair, hope and heartache. Most people have attended some type of sporting event.

Whether in the grandstand or watching on television, sport has the capacity to engage those who are watching and help them to escape from the highs and lows of their everyday lives to be in communion with others.

For some observers, sport has replaced the religious experience. Where many are concerned it has replaced the rituals and communal gatherings of religion, and it can seem that our stadiums and pitches have become the new cathedrals and temples.

Sport gives hope. Sport can help us live a better tomorrow. It can bring individuals meaning. It can strengthen a community. Sport has a deserved place in civic society.

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But, sport and religion can overlap as they teach us values, and add to our respect and understanding.

Think of world champion Katie Taylor who remains determined to be best she can be. She is a private person who tries to integrate her personal faith into her life

I witnessed this recently at the funeral of Dublin GAA legend Brian Mullins where, in an overflowing church, the majority of those in attendance were men. Many of our sporting heroes grapple with some of the bigger questions in life.

Speaking to me not long before his death, Mullins, said: “I lean towards God who gives sense and purpose to what my world should be. Maybe it has not worked out like other people’s understanding. God wants us to be good and create goodness. For me, that is trying to be the best you can be.”

St Catherine of Siena is reported to have said: “If you are what you should be, set the world on fire.”

The island of Ireland has produced some amazing sports legends who have set the world of sport on fire. From Christy Ring to Ronnie Delany, from Mary Peters to Sonia O’Sullivan. We have a long list.

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Sport can bring a communion of unity. Think of Italia ‘90.

Think of Barry McGuigan boxing for all of Ireland, bringing hope in a time of darkness.

But there is no less drama when an individual, perhaps with very few people in attendance, fulfils a personal dream.

We also see heroes and heroines in sport when with “ordinary people” digging deep and doing something that makes their ordinary extraordinary.

Speaking recently at a conference hosted in the Vatican entitled Sport for All, Pope Francis noted that we need to work harder to “promote the notion of sport as something for everyone”. The International Olympic Committee would agree. It recently updated its motto to reflect this. Faster, Higher, Stronger now has an added value: Together.

I had the pleasure of getting some of Ireland’s best known and lesser known sports stars to reflect on their achievements. Some of them were very open about how their faith and spiritual side is important to them.

It might seem unusual for some of our sports stars to have a religious side to their character. Many noted small rituals that comforted them in their pre-match preparations. Some prayed, others had a miraculous medal sewn into their kit; others had a small bottle of holy water in their bag, some prayed with their team-mates when travelling to team competitions.

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Others are still searching for meaning. Legendary jockey and trainer Johnny Murtagh pointed out: “When I went out the big races, I just left it to God with his words, ‘Thy will be done’ it was whatever was God’s will. I had done my preparations and I left it in God’s hands. If I won or was beaten, I was just grateful.”

Ireland’s Olympic gold medallist Delany dropped to his knees instinctively once he realised he had won in Melbourne. Looking back, he notes: “I am not a holy Joe. God is strong and central to my life. Before a race I’d pray on my own. I would have my little holy medal, holy water. I would not pray for success, just the ability to run to the best of my ability.”

This is key. None of the sports stars interviewed prayed to win or for success. Their prayer was just to give their best. Whether it is Ciara Mageean pointing out, “I don’t pray to win. When I run … it is all me.” Or Catherina Mc Kiernan: “During races I prayed for strength when I was tired and said to God… you lift my legs and I will let them down.”

There is no such thing as the perfect Christian. Neither is there any such thing as the perfect athlete. Both Christians and sportspeople strive for perfection

Josh van der Flier, one of the best rugby players of his generation, remembered the words of a coach who told him to “honour his faith by doing his best playing rugby”.

Think of world champion Katie Taylor who remains determined to be best she can be. She is a private person who tries to integrate her personal faith into her life. “My faith is very important to me not just in boxing, but in everyday life. The only reason I have done great things is that I serve an amazing God,” she said.

What is common among those featured and many others around the country is that they have faith in themselves, faith in their team-mates and backroom team, and faith in a greater power that, perhaps, can help them to reach their greatest potential on the biggest stages of their sporting careers.

There is no such thing as the perfect Christian. Neither is there any such thing as the perfect athlete. Both Christians and sportspeople strive for perfection. In sport there are many winners fulfilling their dreams. Yet there are many others who have had an honest go at trying to be the best they could be. Isn’t that the greater glory?

Gerard Gallagher works with Association of Leaders of Missionaries & Religious of Ireland and is author of Faith: In Search of Greater Glory in Sport

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