Contact: Kiera M. McCaffrey, Director of Communications, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, 212-371-3191, catalyst@catholicleague.org
"I am writing today to the 15-member Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in
"Principle #5 of the Fundamental Principles of Olympism in the Olympic Charter reads, 'Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.' Under Chapter Two, Rule 23, Paragraph 1.6 of the Charter, the Executive Board of the IOC has the power to withdraw the right of the host city to organize the Olympic Games if the Charter is violated. However, Paragraph 3 says, 'Before applying any measure or sanction, the competent IOC body may issue a warning.' Accordingly, I am asking the IOC to do just that. If the warning fails, then the Catholic League will petition the IOC to deny
"In addition to violating religious liberties, the Chinese government is guilty of gross hypocrisy. On the website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, there are several comments lauding religious rights. For example, it says, '