Pope meets Villanova and Notre Dame basketball teams in Rome

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 1 Nov, 10:43 · Archive

Pope Leo XIV met with Villanova and Notre Dame basketball teams at the Vatican ahead of their season opener in Rome.

Pope Leo XIV met on Saturday with basketball teams from Villanova and Notre Dame at the Vatican, ahead of their season opener on Sunday. About 7,000 people—players, coaches, fans and their families—gathered in the Paul VI audience hall following a special private Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.

The pope, born Robert Prevost, graduated from Villanova in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics. He was raised in Chicago, near Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. The 71-year-old pontiff is currently recovering from lung cancer surgery performed on 13 October.

Leo is an avid sports fan and tennis player. He said that sports bring people together and can promote values such as fraternity, solidarity and peace. "By acting as a concrete means of bringing people together, athletics can teach the values of cooperation and mutual sharing. This is increasingly necessary in an age marked by the distance that can be created by technology," he said, according to Vatican News.

The pope acknowledged the difficulty of remaining neutral between his alma mater and Notre Dame. "Prevost has another opinion, but we won't do that now," he said to laughter from the audience. He dribbled a golden basketball presented by the Villanova women's team and received a jersey and another golden ball from Notre Dame's players.

The men's and women's teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday at the Palazzo dello Sport, an 11,000-seat arena about a half-hour drive from the Vatican. The event, called the Eternal City Tip-Off, was created to honour the first American pope. The NCAA approved a waiver to allow the game to proceed on 1 November, one day before the rest of the Division I basketball season begins, due to the historic nature of the overseas matchup.

Pope meets Villanova and Notre Dame basketball teams in Rome — Image: New York Post

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How it is being reported

College basketball tips off with Notre Dame vs. Villanova in Rome—How to watchThe 2026-27 college basketball season is tipping off in the Eternal City.New York Post · 1 Nov, 10:30
Pope Leo dribbles golden basketball and tries to stay neutral as rival US teams descend on VaticanThe teams will face off at the Eternal City Tip-Off, a game created to honor the first American popeIndependent World · 31 Oct, 14:05
Pope meets Villanova and Notre Dame basketball teams at the VaticanThe teams are in Rome for the U.S. college basketball season opener — an event dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off and created to honor the U.S.-born pope.CBS News · 31 Oct, 12:40

In this story: Pope Leo XIV · Villanova · Notre Dame · Vatican · Rome

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