As Athletica Vaticana prepares to take part in the Mediterranean Games, Pope Leo XIV expresses his hopes that the event held in southern Italy may promote sport as a \u201cprophecy of peace and fraternity.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Devin Watkins<\/p>\n
Four athletes from Athletica Vaticana are set to take part in the 20th Mediterranean Games, which will be held in the southern Italian city of Taranto from August 21 to September 3.<\/p>\n
Around 4,000 athletes from 26 countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe, all linked by the Mediterranean Sea, will compete in 33 different sports.<\/p>\n
The members of the Holy See\u2019s sports association who will compete at the Games include Fabrizio Peloni and Tiziano Lucarelli in men\u2019s padel doubles, Daniele Fontana in \u00e9p\u00e9e fencing, and Emiliano Morbidelli in cycling.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the event, Pope Leo XIV expressed his hope that the 2026 Mediterranean Games may offer the world a visible sign of peace and encounter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis week the Mediterranean Games will begin in Taranto,\u201d he said at the Angelus address on Sunday. \u201cI hope that this sporting event may be a prophecy of peace and fraternity among the peoples of this region and of the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pope Leo has frequently said that sport reaches its deepest meaning when competition becomes encounter and athletes recognize each other as members of the same human family.<\/p>\n
On the first day of the Mediterranean Games, Archbishop Ciro Miniero of Taranto will preside at Mass in the city\u2019s cathedral, joined by Bishop Paul Tighe, Secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, to welcome the Cross of the Athletes.<\/p>\n
According to a press release, the Cross will remain in the cathedral throughout the Games as a spiritual point of reference, accompanying athletes as it has at international sporting events since the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Miniero said sport offers a useful opportunity for professionals and amateurs, including children, to look past social differences and promote fraternity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a world suffering due to war and the climate emergency,\u201d he said, \u201cwe have the chance to show that peace is possible and that the athletes who hail from \u2018opposing factions\u2019 are instead women and men animated by a genuine spirit of fraternity, beyond their place of birth or creed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cardinal Jos\u00e9 Tolentino de Mendon\u00e7a, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, said the presence of Athletica Vaticana offers a significant gesture of fraternity.<\/p>\n
He called the Cross of the Athletes \u201ca wordless message\u201d affirming that every life, even through sweat and suffering, deserves love and respect.<\/p>\n
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