Pope Leo greets Villanova and Notre Dame basketball teams at the Vatican before Rome game

Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Leo, the first American pope, received the basketball teams of Villanova and Notre Dame in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall on Saturday. Around 7,000 players, guests and supporters attended the gathering.

A meeting of two rival universities

The Vatican hall has hosted heads of state, royalty and large groups of pilgrims over the years. This time, the pope greeted the men’s and women’s teams from Villanova, where he graduated in 1977, and from Notre Dame.

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Villanova, whose teams are called the Wildcats, is in Pennsylvania. Notre Dame, known as the Fighting Irish, is in Indiana but draws strong backing in the part of Chicago where the pope, born Robert Prevost, grew up.

The pope’s remarks

Leo recalled that on Chicago’s south side he often heard the cry “Go Irish”, while noting that Prevost graduated from Villanova. He then said: “So, the Pope doesn’t take sides.” He added that Prevost holds a different view but that he would not go into it at the event, which drew cheers and laughter from the audience.

Leo then turned to a more serious point. He acknowledged the natural impulse to support one’s own team, often with great passion, but told those present that opposing teams “are certainly not enemies”.

Showdown in Rome

The two Catholic universities will settle the matter on court on Sunday. Their men’s and women’s teams will meet at Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport in the Eternal City Tip-Off, which opens the US college basketball season.

For Notre Dame, the task is clear: defeating a team whose best-known alumnus has a direct line to heaven. Villanova, for its part, may have gained the ultimate sixth man.