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Russian team blessed ahead of Vancouver Olympics
Published: 28 January, 2010, 13:56
Edited: 04 February, 2010, 11:01
TAGS: Sport, Religion, Olympics, Winter sports
The Russian Olympic team has been blessed by the country's Orthodox Church before heading to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games.
The farewell ceremony for the 175-strong team of athletes has been held at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral.
The service was conducted by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
The list of athletes will be officially released before February 1.
Russia is expecting to take medals in 35 sporting disciplines in Vancouver, according to Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko.
The Vancouver Winter Games will last from February 12 to February 28.
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1 comment
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Watcher I have no idea what makes you think "the private sphere" is about the "Bed Room and Sexual preference" as such. I am speaking about these two domains- the private and the public- according to analysis of the social contract theorists! And according this my understanding civil society, the public and the private domains, it is unsettling for the Church to get involved in blessing high performance athletes
Watcher I think this is a misguided gesture in many levels. The church could and shold bless the faithful but it must stay away from inserting itself in things which are too trivial for God to bestow his favour! To be brutally franks, this is something which religious leaders should avoid.
Katerina, You misunderstand the role of religion in Russian society. When I went off to the university, my mother took out her cross and blessed me before I went out the door. This was a very moving moment for me - and, I am sure the Russian team felt the same way as I did. Since you find our religious practices in "extremely bad taste" perhaps you would be better off to ignore topics on RT that deal with our religion.