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Pope’s words inspire pro-life olympic torch bearer

Al Smith, a former athlete who volunteers as a programmer at a local radio station producing and hosting a Catholic radio show, said the words of Pope Benedict XVI inspired him when he carried the Olympic Torch as it makes its ceremonial way across Canada, reports Thaddeus M. Baklinski, LifeSiteNews.com.

Mr. Smith carried the torch for 300 meters on December 28 after he was selected from more than 100,000 applications for the coveted torchbearer positions. Smith told LifeSiteNews.com that he believed it significant that he was running on the Catholic Feast of the Holy Innocents, which commemorates the infants that were slaughtered in Bethlehem when Herod sought to kill Christ.

“When I carried the Olympic Torch on Monday, I was thinking and praying for Pope Benedict XVI,” said Mr. Smith.

“The Pope blessed the Olympic flame on the first day of the Italian torch relay for the 2006 Turin Winter Games. The torch briefly stopped in St. Peter’s Square, where a Swiss Guard held the flame aloft for the papal blessing. Pope Benedict said from the window of his studio overlooking the crowded square, ‘May this flame remind everybody of the values of peace and brotherhood that are at the basis of the Olympics.’ I was pondering his words as I carried the torch.”

"That peace and brotherhood extend also to the unborn," Smith told LifeSiteNews.

“As a former athlete, carrying the torch seemed a natural fit, so I submitted an application,” he explained. “I was an avid swimmer and won a provincial title in 1984 for the 100-meter butterfly in the Masters Division, and I was also a provincial record holder a few years earlier in the 400-meter individual medley. My swimming resume also includes a bronze medal at the Canadian Masters Swimming Championships in 1993.”

“I feel truly blessed to have been selected,” says Mr. Smith, who wasn’t just randomly picked to be a torchbearer.

The theme for the Olympic Torch relay is “Create a Better Canada.” As part of the application process, Smith had to write about his commitment to the community.

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TAGS: Canada Pope Benedict XVI Olympic Torch 2006 Turin Winter Games Mr. Smith

[01/07/2010]

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