Pope Leo says he is neutral on college basketball but his Villanova past may differ
Pope Leo XIV told Villanova and Notre Dame basketball teams he takes no sides, then joked that his former self, Robert Prevost, may think otherwise. The teams are in Rome for a season opener on All Saints' Day.
Pope Leo XIV told the basketball teams of Villanova and Notre Dame on Saturday that he takes no sides in sports, before adding with a laugh that his former self might disagree. Speaking to an audience of about 7,000 players, coaches, fans and families in the Vatican audience hall, the pontiff, born Robert Prevost, said: «Prevost has another opinion, but we won't do that now.»
The two Catholic universities were in Rome for the U.S. college basketball season opener. Their men's and women's teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Sunday at the 11,000-seat Palazzo dello Sport, roughly a half-hour drive from the Vatican. The event has been dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off and was created to honor the first American pope.
Leo graduated from Villanova in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. The Augustinian school is near Philadelphia. He was born in Chicago, not far from Notre Dame, which is located in South Bend, Indiana. Leo is an avid sports fan and tennis player, and he has been known to follow basketball and the Chicago White Sox.
The audience had been uncertain after the 71-year-old pope underwent lung cancer surgery on Oct. 13 and is still recovering. Leo nonetheless kept the appointment ahead of Sunday's game. Villanova's women's team presented him with a golden basketball. Notre Dame's players gave him a jersey, another golden ball and a banner reading «Pope Leo, Play like a champion today», a riff on the famous Notre Dame sign at the university's tunnel between the locker room and the stadium.
Leo then made a "V" gesture with his hand as chants of «Let's Go 'Nova» erupted in the hall. After briefly starting in Italian, he switched to English and spoke off the cuff, recalling that in Chicago he grew up hearing the Notre Dame chant «Go Irish». "As you all know, Prevost graduated from Villanova," he said, referring to his past self in the third person, before concluding that the pope does not take sides.
In his prepared remarks, Leo urged the teams and their families to use sport as a way to grow in holiness. «No one is born a champion, just as no one is born a saint,» he said. He warned against letting rivalries get out of hand and expressed hope that fans in Rome would get to know one another while cheering, even passionately. «In any competition, the members of two teams, even when they have a competitive rivalry, are certainly not enemies,» he said.
He noted that the game falls on All Saints' Day and that the church teaches Christians to pursue holiness in every part of life, including sport. «Our true goal, beyond emerging victorious in any one event, is to win the prize of everlasting life,» he said. Like his predecessors, Leo has praised sport for physical and spiritual development, describing it as a «school of fraternity» that nurtures friendship, respect and teamwork. He has also warned that a win-at-all-costs mentality has fed doping, match-fixing and other forms of corruption.
The Rev. Robert Dowd, president of Notre Dame, acknowledged that Villanova had something of an edge in Sunday's game because it counts the pope as an alumnus. He called the occasion, bringing both teams and their fans together for a papal audience and a season opener, «amazing», adding: «I know that the pope is a pope for all of us, and so I'm grateful.» Villanova's president, the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, said there was «a little extra pride» in being with Leo given his allegiance, but that the result on the court was not the point. «No matter what happens on the court, this is the true highlight of the trip,» he said. «Tomorrow we will cheer, we will compete, but today we are simply grateful.»
Earlier on Saturday, Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Perez celebrated a private Mass for traveling fans in St. Peter's Basilica and asked the people in the pews to applaud the players. The English-language liturgy had the trappings of a papal Mass and was televised live by Vatican Media. Asked about the games on a papal plane during a recent trip to France, Leo had said that he was told about 90% of the crowd would be Villanova supporters and 10% Notre Dame supporters, so "the voice of the people of God will be very strong on the Villanova side."
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