VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV said Saturday to the basketball teams of his alma mater Villanova and another Catholic university Notre Dame — in Rome for the opening of the season — that in matters of sport, the pontiff is neutral.
Then the pope, born Robert Prévost, said he himself might disagree.
“Prévost has another opinion, but we won’t do it now,” he said with a laugh before a cheering and enthusiastic audience of 7,000 people from both schools – players, coaches, fans and their families – in the Vatican courtroom.
The teams were in town for the American college basketball season opens in Rome. The Villanova and Notre Dame men’s and women’s teams will play a doubleheader Sunday at the 11,000-seat Palazzo dello Sport, about a half-hour drive from the Vatican.
The event was doubled the denunciation of the Eternal City and was created to honor the first American pope.
Jay Wrightthe former Villanova coach who led the men’s team to two NCAA championships and was inducted this month into the National Collegiate Hall of Fame, said “this pilgrimage to Rome and this meeting with the pope is bigger than the game.”
The public was up in arms after the 71-year-old pope underwent lung cancer surgery on Oct. 13 and is still recovering. But Leo kept his appointment before Sunday’s opening match.
Leo graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanovathe Augustinian school near Philadelphia. He was born in Chicago, not far from Notre Dame, located in South Bend, Indiana.
Leo dribbles and poses
Leo, a sports enthusiast and tennis player, dribbled a golden basketball given to him by the Villanova women’s team. And when the imposing Notre Dame players presented him with a jersey and another golden ball, Léo climbed onto the podium where his chair rests to try to gain a few centimeters on them.
He posed for a photo with the Fighting Irish, holding the banner they gave him that read “Pope Leo, Play Like a Champion Today” – a riff on the famous Notre Dame sign from the university’s football stadium.
But he gave Villanova equal time, making the “V” gesture with his hand as chants of “Let’s Go ‘Nova” erupted in the courtroom.
“He’s a real Villanovan,” Villanova women’s coach Denise Dillon said. “I said, ‘OK everyone: V is up.’ And he immediately got started.
Sport as a path to holiness
After mistakenly starting in Italian, Leo switched to English, his native language, and spoke spontaneously, recalling that in his hometown of Chicago he grew up hearing “Go Irish,” the song of Our Lady.
“But as you all know, Prévost graduated from Villanova,” Leo said, referring to his past in the third person.
“So the pope is not taking sides,” he said with a laugh, before revealing that “Prévost has another opinion.”
In his prepared remarks to the crowd, Leo urged teams and their families to embrace sports as a way to grow in holiness.
“No one is born a champion, just like no one is born a saint,” Leo said.
He warned against letting sporting rivalries get out of hand and said he hoped fans in Rome this weekend would get to know each other by cheering, “even passionately”.
“In any competition, members of two teams, even when they have a competitive rivalry, are certainly not enemies,” he said. “So I hope that despite the competitive nature of college basketball, players and fans of both teams will have the opportunity to get to know each other during your days here in Rome.”
He noted that the match would take place on All Saints’ Day and that the Church teaches Christians to seek holiness in all aspects of their lives, including sports.
“Our true goal, beyond winning any given event, is to win the prize of eternal life,” he said.
Leo and the former popes exalted sport
Like popes before him, Leo praised the value of sport for physical and spiritual development, calling sport a “school of brotherhood” that nurtures friendship, respect and teamwork. But he also warned of how the sport’s win-at-all-costs mentality has contributed to episodes of doping, match-fixing and other forms of corruption.
The Rev. Robert Dowd, president of Notre Dame, acknowledged that Villanova has an advantage in Sunday’s game, given that it counts Pope among its alumni. But in an interview Saturday, he said: “The pope is a pope for all of us.
“The pope talks about the importance of building bridges,” Dowd said, “and I’m sure he will build bridges when we face each other.”
Villanova President Rev. Peter M. Donohue said there was “a little extra pride” in being with Leo, given his allegiance. But he said what happens on Sunday is not the point.
“No matter what happens on the ground, this is the true highlight of the journey,” Donohue said in his introductory speech to the audience. “Tomorrow we will cheer, we will compete, but today we are just grateful.”
Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Perez celebrated a private mass for traveling fans in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday morning and asked the thousands in the pews to applaud the players. The English-language liturgy was unusual in that it had all the trappings of a papal mass celebrated at the high altar and broadcast live by Vatican media.
Leo is passionate Chicago White Sox fanand is also known for following basketball.
Asked about the upcoming games on the papal plane On a recent trip to France, Leo said, “I’m told the people who come to the game are 90 percent Villanova and 10 percent Notre Dame, so the voice of God’s people will be very strong on the Villanova side. »
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