The Olympic flame and the sacred fire

After being lit at the ancient site of Olympia, Greece, on April 16, and relayed to Athens, the Olympic flame has just set sail for Marseille. She will disembark there on May 8 before continuing her journey towards Paris, passing from hand to hand on the territory of the metropolis and as far as overseas. His journey draws arabesques on the map where we can read the desire to connect as many places and people as possible.

The Olympic flame ritual does not only have admirers: certain voices in the Orthodox Church do not hesitate to criticize the neopagan character of the lighting ceremony, during which actresses played the role of priestesses of Hera. Historians also recall that the Olympic torch relay was born during the 1936 Berlin games at the instigation of the Nazis, who used it as a propaganda tool to glorify Hitler's regime.

In parallel with this controversial relay, another passing of the torch is about to occur: that of the “sacred fire” of Jerusalem. On Orthodox Holy Saturday, May 4, the Patriarch of Jerusalem will enter the Holy Sepulcher with an armful of thirty-three candles, after having been searched to ensure that he is not carrying any firelighters. He should, like every year, come out with a burning torch to which the pilgrims will approach their candles. The sacred fire will thus spread throughout the planet. Some will call it a miracle while others will denounce deception and gullibility.

Beyond the question of the authenticity of the sacred fire, Don’t these two flames, significant in the eyes of those who carry them, both reveal the same desire? That of associating oneself with a movement greater than oneself, which goes beyond us and connects us to others. It is this bond that is to be cherished as a precious flame, a bond in which Christians discern the Holy Spirit who fell on the Apostles on a Pentecost morning and who can continue to set the world on fire with his divine life filled with love if we pass the baton to each other.