Pope Leo is trying to remain neutral as basketball rivals arrive at the Vatican for a meeting on Saturday. He has received heads of states, royalty and pilgrims by busload in the Vatican’s Paul Audience Hall, with his old college basketball team present in a show of surface-level sportsmanship toward opponents.
Leo is the first American Pope who greeted the men’s and women’s team from his alma mater Villanova where he graduated in 1977 in front of an audience of approximately 7,000 players, guests and supporters.
Leo said in a statement, “Growing up on the south side of Chicago, we often heard, ‘Go Irish.’ But as you all know, Prevost graduated from Villanova.”
The two Catholic universities will face off on the court on Sunday when their men’s and women’s teams compete at Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport in the Eternal City Tip-off opening specifically the US college basketball season.
Leo recognized the natural urge to passionately back one’s own side while reminding the audience that opposing teams are competitors, not foes. Furthermore, for Notre Dame, the objective for Sunday’s matchup is clear: conquering a program whose most prominent alumnus holds a direct line to the heavens; meanwhile, Villanova may have acquired the definite reserve player.
