Pope Leo XIV meets the Naples football club, which celebrates its fourth victory in the league, and stresses that “it’s the team”, not individual players, who won a championship.
By Joseph Tulloch
Pope Leo XIV met on Tuesday morning with members of SSC Napoli, the football club which won the title of the Italian League on Friday.
In a brief speech delivered before welcoming the players, the Pope thought about the importance of teamwork and the “moral quality” of sport.
Before reading his address, however, the pope joked with the players, suggesting that they had not wanted to applaud for him because the press had reported that he was a fan of the Roma.
A team victory
Pope Leo then read his speech, starting by congratulating the team for his victory, which he described as “great celebration for all Naples”.
Some 200,000 fans joked the city streets on Monday, May 26 for Napoli’s victory parade.
Fans encourage the Victoire of Napoli’s Victory (Ansa)
The Pope told the club that, in the past, when a team won a trophy, attention had been paid to the performance and skills of individual players.
Today, however, we recognize that “it is the team that wins the championship … The players, the manager and his staff and the sports club” as a whole, noted the Pope.
Pope Leo said, was the aspect of Napoli’s victory that he wanted to emphasize the most: “The example of a team – in the broad sense – that works together, with individual talents put at the service of the whole”.
Moral dimension of sport
The Pope then added that he wanted to discuss the “educational” role in sport briefly.
“Unfortunately,” he said, “when sport becomes a business, it may lose the values that make it educational, and it can even become harmful from this point of view.”
This is particularly important with regard to adolescents, noted the Pope, and he called on parents and coaches to “pay particular attention to the moral quality of the sports experience”.
“What is at stake,” he warned, “is the human development of young people.”
Pope Leo with Napoli Manager Antonio Conte (@vaticica Media)
Best wishes in Rosa
Pope Leo then ended his address by thanking the team for their visit, congratulating them again for their victory and offering his blessing to the members of the team and their families.
He also transmitted the best wishes of Rosa, one of his cooks: “Congratulations also from a lady who cooks for me recently, and who comes from Naples. She says, “Congratulations! … It’s Rosa, a big fan.
