Bibles and Scripture booklets will be available to athletes in the Olympic village in Beijing and five other cities hosting events this summer, despite rumours that Bibles would be banned at the games. In a major breakthrough, Chinese authorities have given the go-ahead for the printing and distribution of 50,000 booklets with the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in Chinese and English, 10,000 Chinese-English Bibles and 30,000 Chinese-English New Testaments.

The Beijing Olympic organising committee has even, for the first time, allowed its logo to be used free of charge on the Gospel portions. The announcement follows controversy earlier this year over whether the Chinese authorities would allow Bibles to be made available at the Olympics.

James Catford, Chief Executive of the UK Bible Society, said, ‘This is a major and exciting opportunity. We are privileged to be able to support the Church in China in the publishing of these Bibles and Scriptures during the Beijing Olympics.’

In other developments places of worship have been set up within the Olympic village to provide religious services to athletes. The Church in Beijing has been asked to provide people to staff the chapel and conduct worship services and prayers.