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Pawel Ulatowski / AFP - Getty Images
Polish Catholic priests warm up on Feb. 12 ahead of the 14th Alpine Ski Championships for clergymen in Wisla, southern Poland.
Pawel Ulatowski / AFP - Getty Images
Priests limber up before taking to the slopes.
Pawel Ulatowski / AFP - Getty Images
A priest puts on his ski boots.
Pawel Ulatowski / AFP - Getty Images
Priests take to the slopes.
Pawel Ulatowski / AFP - Getty Images
A priest competes in the 14th Alpine Skiing Championships for clergymen.
I've hunted high and low for more information on this very special event, but all I can find is this tantalizing snippet from thenews.pl:
Skiers in clerical collars are out in force this weekend in the resort of Wisła in the Beskid Mountains for the national skiing championships for priests.
The leaders of the faith compete for the Pope John Paul II Cup in several Alpine disciplines, the main of which [sic] is the 800-metre-long giant slalom.
The tradition of such events goes back to the early 1980s. Click to see more of today's best images.
Leave a Comment:
Surely it's "The Schuss of the Fisherman"
that is AWESOME!
So what's the big deal. Priest can't have fun now and then?
...First Prize...The Altar boy of their choice ....
Classless comment
...that's original.
ah Ken, you need to go soak your head for awhile.you are really really tacky, yew!
This is GREAT! As a ski bum I appreciate this more than most of MSNBC's stuff
.
Ken -- You're sick.
A wedding ring on a priest?
Some, but very few are married. I believe if you were a priest in a faith that allows married priests and then convert to Catholicism you can stay married.
priests and nuns are married to the church. It is a deeply spiritual concept.
Additionally, some priests are widowers and join the priesthood late in life.
Catholic Priests often wear a wedding ring as a symbol of being married to the Church.
It is nice to see the priests having some fun. 99% of priests are wonderful people. The news media loves to focus on the indiscretions of the 1%. What institution populated by fallible human beings, particularly one that has the courage to actually takes a stand and positions on the most controversial and divisive issues of our time, could possibly withstand such withering scrutiny? If you do not know a priest, I would strongly urge you to meet one. You may find your self inspired and your life enriched. Priests have given their lives and careers to God. There is not a more powerful counter-cultural message than that which exists today. I hope they enjoyed their day in the snow.
five words on this whole article, and these guys, GOOD FOR YOU GUYS, BRAVO!
Where are the little boys?
I think that these Polish priests look so cool, fun, and full of God's Joy!!!! Karen the Mom from Wisconsin
bobman go away!shew shew!
bobman, that comment is inappropriate. I think Ken's comment was equally inappropriate.
It makes me very sad to hear such lighthearted "humor" being applied to a situation (many situations) that has/have had tragic and heartbreaking consequences.
Back to the article, it sounds like the good f(F)athers were enjoying their competition. Bless them!
I wish they would wear the same clothes as the rest of us. Christ wore the same clothes as the people of that era.
Antone - I understand your comment in regard to the priests possibly engaging the world in a more modern method at times. However, I personally like seeing priests with clothing that is a symbol of what Christ wore during the time He walked the earth a couple thousand years ago.
I would not like the priests of today to wear half nude clothing and start popping out of large eggs like Lada Gaga or perhaps a feather dress or perhaps a meat laddin robe.
Thank God priests still wear the old garb.
Just my oppinion, I mean no offense.
Professions of great dignity such law and academia also wear robes or cassock like clothing.
Ooops, wear rather than were.
Police officers wear distinctive clothing. So do garbage collectors, and UPS delivery people, and children who go to certain schools. It distinguishes what they do and where they belong - do you really think Christ didn't look at all different from the fishermen, the shepherds, or the beggar down the street? He probably dressed like a rabbi - you know, the Jewish equivalent of a priest. They wore distinctive garb, too. Plus, it helps us to think about God when we pass someone in distintive clothing that we identify as a priest or religious sister/brother. Makes for cooler pictures, too.
It's a popular misconception that clerics of any faith just sit in churches or temples all day reading scripture. There are probably a lot of Olympic contenders in the religious orders with different athletic abilities. I'd love to see Rabbis and Immams on skis - even Buddhist monks. Then they could have a champioship ski event. Who wouldn't subscribe to pay-per-view for that? It would be great fun - and a refreshing response to "bikini" volleyball and "lingerie" football.
Police officers wear distinctive clothing. So do garbage collectors, and UPS delivery people, and children who go to certain schools. It distinguishes what they do and where they belong - do you really think Christ didn't look at all different from the fishermen, the shepherds, or the beggar down the street? He probably dressed like a rabbi - you know, the Jewish equivalent of a priest. They wore distinctive garb, too. Plus, it helps us to think about God when we pass someone in distintive clothing that we identify as a priest or religious sister/brother. Makes for cooler pictures, too.
I am 81 and have been a priest for 56 years. Born in the Adirondacks of NYS near Lake Placid,NY, I have been downhill skiing since I was 7 years old - and still do. I have never worn a priest garb to ski although I have heard Confessions on a chair lift a couple of times! I would love to meet these Brothers!
Peter Riani
I write about skiing week-in, week-out, year-round (starting to prepare for winter '11-'12 already now) and have done for 30 years. As you can imagine I see a lot of the same stories and read a lot about the same places, year after year, so seeing these images really cheered my day and I think say good things for priests, mankind, nature - separately and together. There have been other good Catholic church related ski stories in recent years, the blessing of Italian ski instructors by the current pope earlier this winter was another all good thing as far as I could see; the US Catholic school named after Pope John Paul 2 which acquired one of the late great pope's ski jackets to display in the school was also good, though for non-Catholics the fact that (I read - so forgive me if incorrect) because of JP2 being made a saint it will become a Holy Relic is perhaps a tad weird. But I think the more priests that ski the better. I'll finish with my favourite quote from the Norwegian explorer Fredrik Nansen, “It is better to go skiing and think of God, than go to church and think of sport.”