Speaking to athletes and members of the University of Notre Dame and Villanova University, who are in Rome to face off in a basketball game on the Solemnity of All Saints, Pope Leo emphasizes the importance of sports to promote cooperation and mutual sharing and also recalls that we are called to be holy in our lives.
By Isabella H. de Carvalho
In an age where technology seems to push people apart, sports draw them together and can promote values such as fraternity, solidarity, and peace, Pope Leo XIV highlighted on Saturday, October 31.
“By acting as a concrete means of bringing people together, athletics can teach the values of cooperation and mutual sharing. This is increasingly necessary in an age marked by the distance that can be created by technology,” he said in an audience at the Vatican, with athletes and other members of the University of Notre Dame and Villanova University, the Pope’s alma mater.
The communities from these two American Catholic universities have gathered in Rome to face off in the “Eternal City Tip-Off,” two college basketball games, men’s and women’s, taking place on Sunday, November 1.
“Growing up on the south side of Chicago, we oftentimes heard, ‘Go Irish’ [the school cheer for the University of Notre Dame, editor’s note]. But as you all know, Prevost graduated from Villanova! So, the Pope doesn’t take sides. Prevost has another opinion, but we won’t do that now,” Pope Leo joked during the audience.
Around 7000 people were present at the meeting in the Paul VI Audience Hall, including Father Peter Donohue, President of Villanova University, and Father Robert Dowd, President of the University of Notre Dame, as well as students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters of these two academic establishments.
Pope Leo XIV receives gifts during the audience (VATICAN MEDIA)
Promoting fraternity, solidarity and peace
In his address, Pope Leo XIV emphasized how sports can play an impactful role in both academic communities and the wider society, as they can be a way to promote values like “fraternity, solidarity and peace.”
In this regard, he stressed how the Catholic Church in recent years, through the voices of the popes, has promoted a vision of sport centered on “the dignity of the human person, on his or her integral development, on education and on relationships with others.”
He also noted how it is important to remember that “in any competition, the members of two teams, even when they have a competitive rivalry, are certainly not enemies.”
The Pope thus expressed his hope that “despite the competitive nature of college basketball,” the fans and players of both teams will be able to get to know each other in Rome.
Pope Leo XIV signs a basketball (VATICAN MEDIA)
No one is born a champion or a saint
Pope Leo also underlined how their match is taking place on the Solemnity of All Saints, which is a reminder for how “God calls everyone to be a saint.”
“No one is born a champion, just as no one is born a saint. Rather, holiness requires a daily training in love,” the Pope explained.
He invited everyone “to ensure that every aspect of our lives, including our athletic endeavors, will help us to love God and our neighbor.”
Father Robert Dowd, President of the University of Notre Dame (VATICAN MEDIA)
He also recalled examples of saints for whom sports were important and that can inspire us, such as Pier Giorgio Frassati, a patron saint of athletes.
Lastly, the Pope stressed to his audience members that first and foremost “Christians are called to run in the race of life with the objective of winning an imperishable crown of glory.”
“Our true goal, beyond emerging victorious in any one event, is to win the prize of everlasting life,” he concluded, entrusting all those present to the intercession of the various holy men and women connected to their universities: the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Augustine, St. Thomas of Villanova, and Blessed Basil Moreau.
Father Peter Donohue, President of Villanova University (VATICAN MEDIA)
Source: www.vaticannews.va
