Pope Leo Meets with Villanova and Notre Dame Basketball Teams at the Vatican

Pope Leo XIV met with the basketball teams from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame at the Vatican on Saturday. About 7,000 fans from the United States joined the players inside the Paul VI audience hall. The teams are in Rome for a special college basketball event called the Eternal City Tip-Off, which was created to honor the new American pope. It was a big moment for both schools, which are Catholic universities with strong ties to the Church.

Before the meeting, Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Perez led a private Mass for the traveling fans inside St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday morning. He asked the crowd to applaud the players, and thousands of people in the pews cheered loudly. The Mass was shown live on Vatican television, which is rare for an English-language service. It was a meaningful experience for fans who had traveled all the way to Rome.

Pope Leo joked with the crowd during the audience, poking fun at the rivalry between the two schools. He grew up on the south side of Chicago, where people often cheered for Notre Dame's Fighting Irish. But Leo graduated from Villanova in 1977 with a degree in mathematics, making him a proud Wildcat. He laughed and said that as pope, he does not officially take sides.

Leo spoke about the value of sports and what it can teach young people. He said athletics help bring people together and promote values like teamwork, sharing, and peace. He also said technology can sometimes create distance between people, and sports can help close that gap. "By acting as a concrete means of bringing people together, athletics can teach the values of cooperation and mutual sharing," he said.

The pope told players and fans to treat opponents with respect, even during tough competition. He said rival teams are not enemies, and he hoped everyone in Rome would take time to get to know each other. "In any competition, the members of two teams, even when they have a competitive rivalry, are certainly not enemies," he said. He encouraged both sides to make real friendships during their days in the city.

The men's and women's teams from both schools will play a doubleheader on Sunday at the Palazzo Dello Sport, a large arena that holds about 11,000 people. The arena is roughly a half-hour drive from the Vatican. Sunday also happens to be All Saints' Day, one of the most important holidays in the Catholic Church. Leo said the timing was meaningful, noting that the true goal in life is "to win the prize of everlasting life."

Leo is known to be a big sports fan who loves tennis and follows the Chicago White Sox baseball team. The Rev. Rob Hagan, Villanova's team chaplain, said Leo used to attend Villanova games at a famous Philadelphia arena called the Palestra, known as "The Cathedral of College Basketball." Hagan said the pope will definitely recognize the players on the court. "He will know who they are. He's a true, blue Villanovan," Hagan said.

The president of Notre Dame, the Rev. Robert Dowd, admitted Villanova had a small advantage since the pope is one of their graduates. But he said the whole event — bringing both teams and thousands of fans to Rome — was still "amazing." He noted that Pope Leo often talks about building bridges between people, and joked that the pope would be a bridge builder even during the game. Leo is currently recovering from lung cancer surgery but appeared to be in good spirits throughout the audience.