Poland´s Catholic church gears up for Euro 2012

Poland’s influential Roman Catholic church is gearing up for the UEFA Euro-2012 football championships slated to be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, the Polish Episcopate confirmed Thursday.

“It is the vocation of the church to accompany man everywhere, including sport, the physical dimension of which must have a spiritual dimension also,” Father Edward Plen, a priest serving Poland’s sports community, told AFP.

“If we want these championships to make history, we must all react together. It is not just a matter of building stadiums and highways, but also of creating a great team, a big family of supporters,” he said.

The church intends to create a network of young, competent English-speaking volunteers to help fans who will arrive in Poland for the Euro 2012 play-offs.

It is also planning special meetings and seminars for Polish fans in parishes across Poland as well as special catechism classes in schools “to recall the ten commandments” in order to eliminate violence, racism and anti-Semitism from football, Plen said.

During the championships, churches in close proximity to stadia will keep their doors open to fans who may want to congregate there, he added.

UEFA chief Michel Platini will visit Poland and Ukraine April 15-16 on a reconnaissance mission to gauge the progress of preparations for the Euro-2012 finals.