Olympic chaplain calls on Catholics to prepare for missionary work at 2028 LA Games

With Los Angeles set to host the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the U.S. Catholic Church is currently in the “Quad” — a four-year training period between global competitions — to refine its missionary strategy, a priest and former Olympian told OSV News.

“Let's be spiritually responsive, praying and present; let's be on every corner (in Los Angeles) so that when someone is seeking a connection with God, we are there,” said Father Joseph Fitzgerald, pastor of St. William the Abbot in Seaford, NY, and former vocations officer for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY.

Father Fitzgerald spoke to OSV News shortly after serving as chaplain at both the Paris Games and the Holy Games, the Olympic initiative of the Catholic Church in France. At both events, he wore not only his “clerical black clothes” but also his credentials as a former Olympian who played on the 1996 U.S. handball team.

This combination has “opened doors” for moments of encounter and witness, he said.

“People would come up to me and say, 'All right, you have the (clerical) collar on and (the creed). Is that a costume?'” Father Fitzgerald recalls. “And I said, 'No, I'm a 1996 Olympian and a priest.' Those conversations were gold; it was great: 'Hey, Father, how can I celebrate the sacraments? Is there a Mass? Where can we go?' So there was a really great openness.”

Father Fitzgerald admitted that he was surprised by the extent of the Catholic mission at the Paris Games, especially at the Sacred Games.

“It was really incredible. The whole mission was so much bigger than I thought it would be,” he said. “They got about a thousand tickets to the Games and distributed them to people with special needs, children in wheelchairs, homeless families. I had thought I would maybe hear a few confessions and watch a few games, and here I am handing out croissants and coffee to homeless families after Mass. And then we played ping pong and tug of war, and I got to interact with them (in a way) that really had nothing to do with the Olympics — although of course I listened carefully to the Olympic athletes and their coaches and their families. But it was more like following the Gospel under the umbrella of the Sacred Games. I was overwhelmed.”

The 2028 Games are expected to be a “great opportunity” to use “all our resources” to spread the faith, especially given the spiritual boost provided by the 10th National Eucharistic Congress recently in Indianapolis, Father Fitzgerald said. But it will require hard work and preparation, he stressed.

“Many parish priests in the Archdiocese of Paris were fully on board. They wanted their parishes to become Sacred Games parishes, where people could come and pray and participate,” he said. “And that's what needs to happen to make a similar experience possible in Los Angeles. So it's going to take a real effort, and not just on the part of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.”

Partnerships with Catholic churches and communities at local and national levels, as well as “financial, voluntary and material investments,” are crucial for the spiritual accompaniment of the games, the priest said.

It is also crucial to have “local contacts” and to ensure adequate clergy representation during the summer holidays, he added.

Father Fitzgerald said he is preparing a report on his experiences at the Paris Games for Bishop John O. Barres of Rockville Centre, who may share the results with his fellow bishops.

Ultimately, said Father Fitzgerald, “we are not striving for earthly goals, but for heaven.”

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