Prayers for athletes not to be lazy

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's Orthodox Church says it is praying for athletes competing in the Athens Olympics not to be lazy.


"Athletes and sports fans should spend the days of the Olympic Games abhorring evil, clinging to good led by brotherly love and should not be slothful," the church said in a statement on Sunday.


The church says sloth is one of man's deadly passions that should be resisted.


"The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece prays also to the Lord for the Games to be conducted in a spirit of mutual love and peace, away from conflict, away from acts of violence and demonstration of cruelty," the church said.


From NATO warships to thousands of surveillance cameras, the biggest security operation in peacetime Europe has been mounted to protect the August 13-29 Olympics.


Greece is spending 1.0 billion euros (670 million pounds) on security, four times the amount at the Sydney Games in 2000, because of international concerns after the September 11 attacks on the United States and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


The church's leaders, keen to showcase Greece's Orthodox heritage during the Olympics, have sent out a circular to their black-robed priests to dress properly, tidy up churches and ring church bells sparingly so as not to disturb athletes and fans.