Zambia declares June 23 as Olympic Education Celebration Day

On Sunday, 23 June 2024, the Church of St. Basil in Lusaka celebrated the feast day of Pentecost with grandeur and due ecclesiastical splendour.

His Eminence Metropolitan John of Zambia performed the Artoklasia, a special blessing of bread, for the health of athletes and delivered a sermon emphasising the vital connection between religion and sports.

Following the 12-day series of events, the resolution on the Olympic Truce was announced, a significant gesture that will be forwarded to the United Nations and various international organisations.

Among the attendees were Greek Olympic champions Athanasia Tsoumeleka and Georgios Tzelis, representatives of the Olympic Committee of Zambia, athletes, the Coordinator of Education for Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. Georgios Vlachos, and the head of the Sports Museum of Agrinio and Olympic memorabilia collector, Mr. Dionysis Babaroutsis. The Olympians participated with great enthusiasm and emotion in all the events.

Metropolitan John honoured the Olympians with commemorative medals of the Metropolis, and announced the establishment of June 23 as the Day of Celebration of Olympic Education in Zambia. He also declared Saint Nektarios, the patron saint of sports, who was specially commemorated during the Olympic Committee conference.

The day concluded with a meal hosted in the church courtyard, where the Olympians and other attendees gathered to celebrate and reflect on the day’s events.

Source: Metropolis of Zambia