The world of sport today, like the societies in which we live, is experiencing an economic and identity crisis of systemic proportions. The pandemic has allowed us to see more clearly problems that until now were hidden or at least not visible to all, including the distance between amateur and professional sport. To overcome this situation requires that we all work together.

As Pope Francis said during the historic vigil on the deserted square of St. Peter’s Basilica on March 27, 2020, “we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.” It is with this spirit of fraternity that we look ahead, for turning back is not possible. There is a temptation to limit ourselves to resilience, that is, to ride out the storm and go back to the way things were before. However, such a strategy would only lead to outdated cultural models. Instead, we need the courage to adapt, accept change and seize new opportunities.

For this reason, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, in collaboration with the Dicastery for Culture and Education, is organizing an International Summit in the Vatican on September 29 and 30, 2022, under the title Sport for All: Cohesive, accessible and tailored to each person. It will involve the major sports and intergovernmental institutions and organizations and build on the October 2016 event Sport at the Service of Humanity and the June 2018 document Giving the Best of Yourself. The aim is to promote the social and inclusive dimension of sport in society, especially when it encapsulates an authentically Christian spirit. It is a response to the Holy Father’s encouragement of a sport that is socially responsible and his appeals to foster sport as a means of human, educational and spiritual growth.

The main purpose of the Summit is to urge sports and politics, international, regional and local, to embrace the Declaration by committing to work for the integration of people in society through sports, especially people with physical, intellectual and relational disabilities, migrants and refugees, prisoners, youth and the elderly, women, etc. It also seeks to motivate sports bodies to reduce the division that exists between professional and amateur sports so that the sense of play, camaraderie, and gratuitousness is not lost.