Nuns on the run (with Swiss guards): Vatican Athletics gets Olympic blessing

- Faster, higher...holier.

The newly-formed Vatican Athletics team, which is aiming to compete in international competitions, including the Olympics, was officially launched on Thursday after reaching a bilateral agreement with the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).

So far there are 60 members of Vatican Athletics -- the first Sports Association constituted in the Holy See -- which includes nuns, priests, Swiss Guards and other workers.

Monsignor Melchor Jos? S?nchez de Toca y Alameda, president of Vatican Athletics, said at the launch that the Olympic Games were "the dream but not in the short term".

"The dream that we have often had is to see the Holy See flag among the delegations at the opening of the Olympic Games," he said. But in the immediate future Vatican Athletics would like to be present at smaller competitions such as the Mediterranean Games.

Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) president Giovanni Malago praised the latest initiative at the Holy See which already has football and cricket teams.

"It will be necessary to affiliate with other federations," he told Vatican News.

"I'm sure this will happen, today we have started a courageous and winning start up."