"Football is not a matter of life and death, it is more important than that."
The Catholic ideal: exercise and sports
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The Catholic ideal: exercise and sports, R Feeney, Aquinas Press 2006 (270 pages) ISBN 0-9622347-8-8
The book is an updated version of "A Catholic perspective: physical exercise and sports R Feeney, Aquinas Press 1995"
To say that this is a very Roman Catholic book, may seem to be stating the obvious, given the title. But it is a very Catholic book and not very accessible to the non-catholic reader. In contrast to The World of sport today: A field of Christian mission, Libreria Editrica Vaticana, 2006 - which is equally a Catholic book but which was totally accessible to me as an Evangelical protestant reader.
That the book is dedicated to "Mary, the sweet and caring Mother of God" and to John Paul II, God's athlete and Mary's Pope" rather makes the point. Mary also comes first in the acknowledgemensts.
There are 10 chapters including "Philosophy of sport: Benefits of exercise", "A sound mind in a sound body". There are also chapters on "The Rosary: The athete's prayer", "John Paul II: The Athlete Pope" and "The teachings of Pope Puis XII".
The purpose of the book is expressed: "In this book the reader will come to understand why the Holy Catholic Church so highly values physical exercise and sport, .as well as the contributions they make to the integral development of the human person" the reader will be introduced to the teachings of the Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, along with two great popes, Pius XII and John Paul 11. These teachings will help us to reconstruct our view of exercise and sports and to understand them as a means of perfecting the body - an instrument of the mind - in the search for and communication of truth". Page 15
Feeney continues: "There is a great need for the sports world to be evangelized, and this requires theological reflection on the Christian message as it applies to sporting activity". Page 16
The book provides a wealth of quotations from the popes and other catholic theologians. However there are undoubtedly more quotations from popes than from Scripture. The book states:"There is a great need for the sports world to be evangelized, and this requires theological reflection on the Christian message as it applies to sporting activity". (Page 16). The lack of engagement with Scripture in this task, makes the book of limited value to the non-catholic.