The “Day of Sports” on Saturday on Vienna’s Heldenplatz has also proven to be a “discussion arena” between the church and sports. More than 200,000 sports fans attended the major event with many sports stars, organizations and opportunities to get active themselves; the Diocesan Sports Association of Austria (DSGÖ) and its chair duo Sepp Eppensteiner and Pepi Frank. On Monday, they reported to Kathpress that the DSGÖ had received high appreciation for its commitment to athletes with disabilities as well as for fairness, justice and respect.
The DSGÖ stand was the scene of intensive discussions with top athletes and high-ranking sports officials, it was said. Eppensteiner and Frank, Austria’s top church sportsmen, were particularly pleased with one gesture: more than 400 sports stars were honored for their achievements, and instead of trophies, tree sponsorships were awarded. In Upper Austria, almost 1,500 trees have already been planted in this way as part of an environmental project.
Austria’s “sports bishop” Alois Schwarz had also praised the event in advance, saying it would motivate people to exercise more and bring “movement into the encounter between church and sport”.
Those: kathpress
