Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games: The Archdiocese launches its website to experience the Games in the Church

With the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games just weeks away, scheduled from October 31 to November 13, the Archdiocese of Dakar is launching its digital campaign. The portal olympics26-eglisedakar.org has been launched to help the faithful experience the first Olympic Games to be held on African soil as a Church.

Visitors can find, with a single click, the opening Mass schedule, prayer texts, results of the inter-deanery tournament, and pilgrimage sites to suggest to delegations. The diocesan committee invites parishes, movements, and Catholic institutions to consult it regularly.

The opening mass will be presided over by the Archbishop of Dakar, Monsignor André Gueye, on Friday, October 30th at 11:00 AM in the

Notre-Dame des Victoires Cathedral, on the eve of the official ceremony scheduled for Saturday, October 31 at 6:00 p.m. at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium.

Students from Catholic schools, members of youth movements and parish prayer groups are invited to pray for and with Christian athletes, their coaches and their families.

The portal also offers Mass times, prayer texts, a novena, and a prayer for athletes (available in French, English, Spanish, German, and Italian). The prayers are placed under the patronage of Our Lady of Africa, for youth, athletes, and the entire Senegalese nation.

The platform also allows for the listing of pilgrimage sites to be suggested to delegations. The committee therefore invites priests, chaplains, and school principals to consult and share this information to organize group travel.