Pope: Sports can be a pathway of life, maturity and holiness

The Sampdoria team logo features a sailor known as Baciccia, (John-Baptist)

Source: Vatican News/Sampdoria football team

Pope Francis met the president, coach and players of Sampdoria football team from Genoa today in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican. During his welcome message he told them that sports generally and football in particular, can be "a pathway of life, maturity and holiness."

The Pope then mentioned two central characteristics of sports: Firstly he praised teamwork. "The best wins are those that come as a team," he said.

Pope Francis said that where he comes from, a football player who only plays the game with himself in mind, "hogs the ball," taking it all to himself, without regard for the other players. Instead, he continued, "we must always work as a team."

Secondly he said it was important to never lose sight of amateur sports, an activity that comes from a vocation of wanting to get involved and do things. There always be amateur sports, he stressed.

The president of Sampdoria, Massimo Ferrero, and the coach of the Ligurian team, Claudio Ranieri, thanked the Pope for receiving them in the Vatican. They gave him a Sampdoria jersey with the words 'Papa Francesco' and a commemorative pennant of the meeting.

LINK

www.sampdoria.it/la-sampdoria-in-udienza-da-papa-francesco/