Beijing Olympic Games Chaplaincy

Below is an email I received from Stuart Weir of Verité Sport in Great Britain re: chaplaincy at the Beijing Olympic Games.

I am sorry that it has taken us so long to report back to you on your application to be considered as a chaplain at the Beijing Olympics. As you will see there are good reasons for the delay. Normally at the Olympics, the local organizing committee accredits a team of local and international Christian chaplains to cover a range of languages and the spectrum of Christian belief.

At this stage the Beijing Organising Committee is saying that it will only accredit Chinese chaplains. No non-Chinese chaplains. This will apply both to the Olympics and the Paralympics.

On behalf of the international sports ministry network, we are continuing to press the committee to change its mind and accredit international chaplains. We are arguing from the needs of the Olympians and the experience and expertise that international chaplains can bring. We hope and pray that we can convince them to change their mind.

If the Chinese authorities do not change their position, no foreign chaplains will be accredited. At this stage we feel we have to assume that will be the position and plan for it. In the first instance we would advise you to approach your national Olympic Committee and explain that you had expected to be accredited as an official chaplain but that the Chinese are not intending to accredit any such chaplains. You should then ask your national Olympic Committee if they would be willing to accredit you as part of your national delegation in order to serve the needs of your Olympic team.

We are also planning to have a small team of international on-call chaplains in Beijing. They would be on standby and would be available to be called in if a say, Portuguese or Russian speaking Olympian wanted to meet a chaplain. There might also be the possibility of access to the village through day passes. Of course, there would also be the possibility of such a chaplain being in Beijing for 3 weeks without ever gaining access to the village.

Please keep in touch and let us know if you approach your national Olympic Committee and their reaction. Also let us know if you would be interested in being in Beijing as an on-call chaplain.

Stuart Weir - On behalf of the International Sport Coalition, Serving the People of Sport Chaplaincy Group