On World Day of Sport for Peace and Development, Pope Francis spoke directly to the men and women who dedicate themselves to sport.
POPE FRANCIS
Sport, with its values, can play an important role in the world, opening paths of harmony among peoples, provided it does not lose its gratuitousness: sport for sport's sake, and does not become commercial. That amateur spirit, typical of true sport.
The Spanish soccer team from Ponferradina traveled to Rome and greeted the Pope after his General Audience.
JOSÉ FERNÁNDEZ NIETO
President, SD Ponferradina
We prayed for everyone, for an end to this cursed war and especially for all Spaniards, from Castilia y Leon, from El Bierzo and for our beloved Ponferradina, of course.
They also brought gifts for the Pope, including, the Virgen de la Encina, patron saint of El Bierzo, in Ponferrada, Spain, and a jersey with the name Francisco and the number 100, for the team's hundred year anniversary.
Last year, Pope Francis also spoke on the value of sport to the players of the Italian soccer team La Spezia.
POPE FRANCIS
I like to see young men and women's efforts in sports because sports are a marvel. Sports bring out the best in us. Continue with this.
In early February of this year, the mother of soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo attended the Pope's General Audience and gave him her son's jersey as a gift.
Just a few months earlier the Pope received the jersey of one of Ronaldo's great rivals, Leo Messi.
Yet Pope Francis has said he does not like rivalries in sports. The Vatican soccer team, referred to as 'the Pope's team,' symbolizes that mentality.
POPE FRANCIS
It's a team without divisions and the main rule is inclusion.
Pope Francis is a known sports fan, so much so that the jerseys he receives have their own display case in the Vatican museums.
SO
TR: JM
