Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/302202
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 APRIL 2014 15 MIRIAM DALLI IT'S a common denominator for millions across the globe: sport, and the power it has to bring nations together for popular and humane causes. Even the last winter Olympics in Sochi saw athletes protesting Rus- sia's anti-gay laws: the German team showed off rainbow uniforms while Google jettisoned its support of the Olympics rings by fashioning its logo doodle with a rainbow. In Malta, 8,000 hiked from Mel- lieha to Senglea to raise €75,000 for the children's cancer charity Puttinu Cares. But an MP whose heart is bound to the world of sport complains that sporting activities in Malta remain mired in politics and still depend- ent on tax funding. Nationalist MP Robert Cutajar says he wants stakeholders to de- bate the future of sports in Malta with a conference set for the 6-8 June at the Cottonera Sports Com- plex, with keynote speakers like former Juventus player Beniamino Vignola, Felice Mariani, the first Italian judoka to win an Olympic medal, and Sky News sports editor Nick Powell. "I don't want to be a passive politi- cian, limiting myself to criticism – I want to concretely contribute to the sector. I recognise the work done in the past, but it's time to change the mentality of how Maltese look at sports," Cutajar, a former sports journalist, said. The Maltese culture of sports, he claims, has not fully embraced "the values of sports" and the impor- tance of sports through all ages – from young to old – in order to take good care of one's health. Cutajar believes sports can be- come the perfect platform to com- bat bullying, inside schools and even on the field of action, like refe- rees berated for decisions they take or athletes who lose on the pitch. "The conference will discuss is- sues such as racism, disability and bullying. Sport can be the perfect ingredient to increase awareness," he said. Apart from that, repeat studies have confirmed that Maltese chil- dren rank second on the global obes- ity scale. In 2010, the percentage of overweight children increased from 32% to 43%; at least 22% of Maltese 15-year-olds are obese while 36% are overweight. According to the World Health Organisation, obes- ity is the fifth leading risk for global deaths. According to the government's Food and Nutrition Policy Action Plan, reducing Malta's rate of obes- ity by 4.3% by 2020 would save the country €3 million a year. Across the European Union, Maltese men are the most obese while Maltese women are the third. Yet, physical education at schools has been relegated to the second division with just one lesson per week. Cutajar intends to raise the issue during the national confer- ence, also to raise questions as to why primary schools lack a fixed PE teacher. "It is unacceptable that PE lessons are limited to once a week when secondary school students attend a total of 40 lessons per week," he said. Although the subject falls in the remit of the Education Depart- ment, newly-appointed parliamen- tary secretary for sports Chris Ag- ius said the education division was "trying hard" to increase PE time. "PE lessons are set to increase as from next year for Form One stu- dents," he said. Agius has embraced the sports conference in a bid to bring about more social benefits from the propagation of sporting values and health. "Children learn that in life sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Winning all the time might lead children to think they are a cut above the rest; that sport is all about beating others… and this is where bullying starts," Agius said. News MP wants sports to fight obesity, bullying John Paul II becomes saint today THE double canonization of two popes is the hot ticket at the Vatican today Sunday. Pope John XXIII, who helped bring the church into the modern era with Vatican II, and Pope John Paul II, the charismatic leader who is cred- ited with helping end Communism in Eastern Europe, are set to join the Catholic church's most holy hall of fame. Since his death in 2005, John Paul II has zoomed through the path to sainthood, while Pope John XXIII had to wait 51 years. The two modern-day pontiffs will join 78 other popes and thousands of other people who have endured the typically long and expensive path to sainthood. Sunday's canonisation will carry a particular resonance in his native Poland – and especially in his home- town of Wadowice. This is where Karol Wojtyla was baptised, where he went to school, where he played in school plays and where he served for a mass as an altar boy every day. The Wojtyla family lived modestly, with their main source of income be- ing the salary of the father, an officer in the military. His mother, who took odd jobs as a tailor, died when he, the future pope, was 9 years old, and his elder brother followed three years later. The home in Wadowice where the future pope grew up is now a museum visited by thousands of pil- grims. Refurbished in time for the canonisation, its re-opening earlier this month was attended by dignitar- ies including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Many Polish people associate John Paul with inspiring the end of Mos- cow-imposed Communist rule. "The pope … was a spiritual leader, but also a political leader. There's no doubt that we ejected the Commu- nists from power thanks to the fact that he mobilised us," said Leokadia Tylek, visiting Wadowice. Fifty kilometres to the northeast, Krakow is where John Paul served as priest and then archbishop before becoming pope. Once installed in the Vatican, he always made sure to come back to the city during visits to Poland. Surveys by the regional tourist board show about 15 percent of the nearly 10 million visitors to Krakow each year come for religious pur- poses, mostly associated with the late pope. "He always protested 'I don't work miracles – it's God who works mira- cles'. And we've been asking him for prayer and that prayer turned out to be very effective, in life and after (his) death," remembers John Paul's former assistant, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz. Some among Poland's 38 million population openly challenge the former pontiff's legacy. Tadeusz Bartos, a philosophy pro- fessor at the Academy of Humanities in Pultusk, near Warsaw, says most Poles are so keen to embrace him as a national hero that they see any crit- icism as "equal to tarnishing sanctity, spitting on the altar". He noted the pope's rigid opposi- tion to condom use at a time when AIDS was rampant, allegations he did not do enough to tackle child sex abuse involving priests, and he accused him of gagging free de- bate within the faith. "John Paul II brought winter to the Church," said Bartos. The Polish parliament has voted to express its gratitude and esteem for the late pope – although some poli- ticians opposed the move, arguing that the church and state should be kept separate.