Getting the Word out at the Olympics:

While official sponsors of the Winter Olympics are handing out bagfuls of freebies, churches are distributing a special Olympic edition of St. Mark’s Gospel.

About 50,000 free copies of the pocket-sized paperback are being distributed in Turin as part of a joint initiative promoted by the local Catholic, Waldensian and Orthodox churches.

The Bible Society in Italy published the seven-language volume after the Italian bishops’ conference promoted the idea. The Gospel distribution revives an initiative carried out during the jubilee year 2000 when 200,000 copies of St. Luke’s Gospel were distributed to hotels in Italy.

Cardinal Severino Poletto of Turin told Catholic News Service that visitors to Turin will find the special-edition Gospel in their hotel rooms, but this volume "is not just to consult, but to take home as a gift, as their own."

Waldensians?

Why, yes they still exist – here’s the Wikipedia article on them, which says that the Italian Waldensians have basically merged with Methodists. Interesting.