Carmen Álvarez Cuadrado
About 7,000 people welcomed Leo XIV in this way: with a standing ovation...
And not even the pope is immune to the unexpected challenges of being bilingual...
He spoke to students from two U.S. universities. Here's a glimpse of the interaction...
A basketball...
And a few photos taken from too high up...
The two visiting universities were Notre Dame and Villanova. They traveled to Rome to face off in a basketball game and kick off the season.
Villanova was founded by the Order of St. Augustine. It’s also where Pope Leo XIV studied philosophy and mathematics in the 1970s. However, the pope grew up around Notre Dame fans in Chicago so he didn’t want to take a side.
But as you know, Prevost was graduated in Villanova... So the Pope doesn't take sides...
But he does play sports. Tennis, for example. And listen to what he told these young people.
POPE LEO XIV
As many of us have experienced, 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. Indeed, “sport is a medicine for both body and spirit, when it is practiced well”.
And even though these two teams are rivals, they were all together at the audience with the pope. In fact, the pontiff spoke to them about it.
POPE LEO XIV
During sporting events, there is the natural desire to cheer, often passionately, for one’s own side. 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. I hope, therefore, that despite the competitive nature of college basketball, there will be opportunities for the players and the fans of both teams to get to know each other in your days here in Rome.
Notre Dame won both games, the men’s and the women’s. But beyond the results, what Pope Leo XIV had told them was that whenever they play, brotherhood, solidarity, and peace should always be on their horizon.
