Pope Leo’s address to Pilgrimage from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame
Paul Vi Audience Hall – Saturday, 31 October 2026
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.
Pope Leo’s Address
Dear friends,
I am pleased to welcome all of you to the Vatican as part of your pilgrimage to Rome.
In a particular way, I greet Father Peter Donohue, President of Villanova University, and Father Robert Dowd, President of the University of Notre Dame, along with the students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters of these two academic institutions who are present.
Many activities will take place during your visit, including the basketball games tomorrow between the teams from your universities.
Given the widespread enthusiasm and interest surrounding these games, we can see the potential for sports to play an impactful role in academic and wider communities.
Throughout the centuries, various Christian authors, including a number of my predecessors, have noted the many praiseworthy effects of participating in athletic activities.
In this respect, the Catholic Church, especially through the voices of the popes, has emphasized this in recent years, proposing a vision of sports centered on the dignity of the human person, his or her integral development, education, and relationships with others.
This vision highlights the universal value of sports as a means of promoting values such as fraternity, solidarity, and peace.
Many of us have experienced how athletics can teach values such as cooperation and sharing by bringing people together.
This is becoming increasingly important in an age where technology can create distance between people.
During sporting events, it is natural to want to cheer passionately for one’s own team.
It’s important to remember that, even when they have a competitive rivalry, the members of two teams are certainly not enemies.
Despite the competitive nature of college basketball, I hope that there will be opportunities for the players and fans of both teams to get to know each other during your time here in Rome.
Providentially, your visit is taking place on the eve of the solemnity in which the universal Church venerates “the merits of all the saints” in one celebration.
On All Saints’ Day, we remember that God calls everyone to be a saint.
Indeed, as St. Peter emphasizes, since the Lord himself is holy, we ourselves must be holy in all our conduct.
(As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; 1 Pet 1:15).
Therefore, we are invited to ensure that every aspect of our lives, including our athletic endeavors, helps us love God and our neighbor.
For many saints, including Pier Giorgio Frassati, the patron saint of athletes, sports were an important part of life.
Their lives remind us that no one is born a champion or a saint.
Rather, holiness requires daily training in love.
In this regard, Christians are called to run in the race of life with the objective of winning an imperishable crown of glory.
(1 Corinthians 9:24-25 –
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize?
So run that you may obtain it.
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.
They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable).
I pray that the activities of your pilgrimage, especially your visits to the tombs of the apostles who died for their faith, remind you that our ultimate goal is to win everlasting life, not just to emerge victorious in any one event.
My dear friends,
With these thoughts, I thank you once again for your presence.
I entrust all of you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas of Villanova, and Blessed Basil Moreau.
To you, and to the members of your university communities, I willingly impart my Apostolic Blessing. Thank you.