This Friday the traditional Sports Mass celebrated its 78th edition in the Divina Pastora church, in the city of Caracas, with the presence of athletes and managers and other authorities.
In the context of the traditional liturgical celebration the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mervin Maldonadoannounced that the number of national and international sports games will increase.
“Multidisciplinary events will double, they will go from 7 to 14 events, so that Venezuela continues to grow in sports,” Maldonado pointed out after the celebration of the traditional Sports Mass.
After 12 years, he stressed, the sports games of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (Alba) will resume and Venezuela will host the Central American Caribbean and Beach Games. He added that school, indigenous and military games will also take place.
Maldonado referred to the achievements obtained in the year 2022 in this area and highlighted the national participation in more than 250 international sporting events.
In an act prior to the mass, Maldonado, in the company of the president of the National Sports Institute, Ninoska Clocier, showed the clothing that Venezuelan athletes will wear when representing the country.
President Maduro honored athletes
The President Nicolas Maduro Through his account on the social network Twitter, he joined the celebration of the sports community, making votes for the protection of Venezuelan athletes.
“We join the sports community in the celebration of the traditional Sports Mass, we raise a prayer for God to protect each and every athlete, pride of the Bolivarian Homeland, youth that shines more and more, and that has given us so much joy. given away”, published the President.
78 years of tradition
The Sports Mass has been celebrated since 1945 on the occasion of National Sports Day, after the parish priest of the La Pastora Church in Caracas, Francisco Castillo Toro, called a Eucharist to honor the baseball players Salvador Argüelles and José Pérez Colmenares. .
This year the ceremony began around 8:30 a.m. with the national anthem, followed by the sports anthem, AVN reported.
Bishop Carlos Márquez was in charge of officiating the ceremony with a speech in which he compared the perseverance and virtue of Dr. José Gregorio Hernández with what athletes must have in each competition, as well as highlighted the importance of sport to achieve unity in the world and peace in the world.
Subsequently, the athletes: Keydomar Vallenilla (weightlifting), Manuel Maita (fencing), Emil Pérez (swimming), Caterina Díaz (cycling) and Tatiana Chirinos (weights) were in charge of presenting the petitions. While other athletes presented offerings for everything achieved in the year 2022 in the field of sports.
After the Christmas gifts and the embrace of peace, Bishop Carlos Márquez ended the mass with the blessing of the uniforms that the Venezuelan athletes will wear in the upcoming 2023 Pan American Games.
The traditional mass was attended by figures such as the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mervin Maldonado; the president of the National Sports Institute (IND), Ninoska Colcier; the president of the Venezuelan Olympic Committee, María Soto, and the mayoress of Caracas, Carmen Meléndez.
