Pope Leo Meets Villanova and Notre Dame Basketball Teams at the Vatican: Sports Bring People Together
Pope Leo XIV met basketball players, students and fans from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican on October 31, with about 7,000 people in attendance. The two universities' men's and women's teams will play a doubleheader in Rome, Italy, on November 1 to open the U.S. college basketball season.
The event, dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off, will be played at Rome's Palazzo dello Sport, an arena seating about 11,000, with the men's game tipping off at 9:30 a.m. ET on November 1 and the women's game at noon; game day coincides with All Saints' Day, a major Catholic feast. The event was created to honor the first American pope.
Leo is a Villanova alumnus, having graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, and he was born and raised on Chicago's South Side, not far from Notre Dame's home state of Indiana. Joking about the rivalry, he told the crowd: "Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, we oftentimes heard, 'Go Irish!' But as you all know, Prevost graduated from Villanova." He added: "So the pope doesn't take sides. Prevost has another opinion, but we won't do that now," drawing cheers and laughter. Prevost is the pope's name before his election.
Turning serious, the pope said that in an age marked by the distance created by technology, sports can bring people together and teach the values of cooperation and mutual sharing, which are increasingly necessary. Earlier that morning, the traveling fans had attended a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, and four student-athletes from each school presented the pope with gifts including commemorative basketballs and jerseys.
According to Vatican News, the audience formed part of the two schools' Rome trip: the two Catholic universities hope the season opener in Rome will celebrate their shared mission and heritage.
Source: GSM, America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：教宗良十四世2026年3月在梵蒂冈接见来宾（资料图）。爱沙尼亚外交部摄，CC BY 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons。 / Pope Leo XIV receives a visitor at the Vatican in March 2026 (file photo). Photo by the Estonian Foreign Ministry, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
