“Your example of humility, brotherhood and hope will continue to inspire how we work together. Your vision of sport as a metaphor of life will continue to guide our daily commitment.” Hours after the death of Pope Francis was made public, when, beyond personal beliefs and collective religious institutions, practically the entire planet already regretted the loss of the Holy Father, the Associazione Sportiv Hearing granted by Bergoglio himself to the members of the same in February 2023, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary, which had actually occurred the previous year, of the first soccer championship organized by the city state.
That day, in his speech, Francisco wanted to reflect from two images released by San Pablo in the first letter to the Corinthians and in the letter to the Philippians, outlining from them three fundamental rules for the athlete: training, discipline and motivation. As for the first, he recalled that “thought is immediately directed to effort, sweat, sacrifice,” but also that “”At the base is a free passion, which is called 'amateur', which expresses love for a certain activity“Regarding the second, he clarified that” the true athlete always seeks to learn, grow and improve. And this requires, precisely, the ability to dominate oneself, correct the impulsivity that we all have “, so that” each can play their role and that the team expresses the best of the whole. “On the third and last, finally, it specified that” the verification is not done based on the numerical result, but based on how faithful and consistent we have been with our call “, insisting to those present in which their way of making a team could of the curia.
That act, held in the Hall of the Consistory of the Apostolic Palace and to which among others they attended Domenico Ruggiero and Nicola Vignola as (then) President and Vice President of the Association, Monsignor Dario Viganò as Ecclesiastical Assistant or Managers of Male and Female Football with their respective teamsended with a group photography that was also rescued.
During the championships you will testify to your link with the Holy See
The bells sound while the ball rolls and the view of the Basilica of San Pedro is majestically from the Campo Pius XI or Cardinal Francis Joseph Spellmanthat both names look, located near but extramurous.
In recent weeks sports events have happened there. By order of proximity, on the last day 11 the Vatican selection was measured (with victory taking advantage of the age difference) to the German team Kinderlachen Stars & Friends, which had legends of the Bundesliga such as Hansi Müller, Thomas Helmer, Kevin Kuranyi or Ivan Klasniæ. The initiative sought to make visible social causes, including support for the most needy children and the most vulnerable people. But just a week before the event had been double, with the male and female combination facing two teams configured by FIFA itself.
As far as the domestic competition is concerned, the current championship began last March. In the middle of the Holy Year eight teams are looking for the title, Highlighting the returns of Vatican museums and pharmacy after some years of absence, as well as the premiere of the Urban Collegio Propaganda Fide. The Archives cast and Dirseco (Dirzione Servizi Economici) complete, who in February had faced in the Copa final, with 4-1 victory for the former, in addition to Sistine Chapel, Pacao (Primary Associazione Artistic Cattolica Operaia Di Carità) and Ass. H.H. Pedro and Pableither. It is missed, of course, sets from previous editions such as that of the Pontifical Latarenense University or that of the mythical Swiss guard.
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Supercopas have also been played between the league and cup winners, more The Cericus Cup, considered a World Cup of religious. This is a tournament in which 16 teams of seminars and ecclesiastical schools in Rome participatedgathering players from countries around the world, although pandemic forced several consecutive editions and has not yet recovered.
The Vatican breathes football, anyway. It does not reach half a square kilometer of surface and consequently you have to look for the courts outside (at the aforementioned you add for some selection matches the Pius XII stadium, in the municipality of Albano Laziale), but breathe football. It does not reach the thousand inhabitants and consequently no player lives in the city, because they are employees of their different units or departments, without sometimes reaching the preferred figure of 11 per squads, therefore forcing themselves to be measured in other specialtiesbut breathe football. And, attending to the story, there are more than five centuries kicking a ball …
There are three fundamental rules: training, discipline and motivation
You have to go back to 1521, as of January 7, when the then Pontifical states hosted a Fiorentino calcium match, primitive sport in which the origins of both football and rugby could be found. He played at the Cortile de Belvedere, Pope Leo X attended … and was remembered by Francisco at the audience to which he already alluded. Since his death, he has insisted on the football affiliation of Bergoglio, a fan of San Lorenzo de Almagro as it was, or in the numerous club visits that he received with the corresponding gifts in the form of a shirt, but also that during his pontificate he also worried about boosting the Vatican sports practice, supporting for example the configuration of a female team that, like the male, looks like the characteristic colors.
Let's go back in time: it seems that in the 18th century, and under the aegis of the Church, a first Capitol Derbi was played in Rome, in this case that of two aristocratic families, Rospigliosi against Belvedere, in front of the Quirinal. A challenge in which, the chronicles of the time tell, in addition to sport there were a lot of punch and slapped. And it is still curious that after a long time, the last century already, shortly after World War II, another event that can be considered initiatory will be recorded, A home run between teams of workers in the Holy See who had no champion … when suspending a fight between players and the public. More of the same, in short, so much later. If there is a ball, there is controversy.
After so much conflict, football in the Vatican It was abandoned for almost 20 years.
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On June 6, 1966, the first team was founded as such, the SS Hermes Musei Vaticani, formed by custodians, restorers and servers of the museums in question. Subsequently other squads were added, so In 1972 Sergio Valci (supported by Cardinal Sergio Gueri, then president of the Pontifical Commission for the State of the Vatican City) assumed the organization and direction of the first domestic championshipthen called 'Coppa Dell'amicizia', in which seven teams participated and in which the winner was the Astor Osservatore Romano. It is convenient to look at the figure of Valci, also a former player, who would guide the football activity of the city state until his death … in 2012.
In that sense, and with some logic taking into account both circumstances and background, the behavior in the field of all soccer players (even managers) was especially evaluated, so that beyond the classification dictated by the results, another based on disciplinary was made public, read yellow and red cards. Of course It was especially persecuted and punished blasphemy, which beyond an expulsion used to cost an disqualification … and sometimes a dismissal.
Then there is what Only a 'foreigner' per team was allowed … to occupy the goal. It was of course those who were not employees Of the different offices or departments represented, it would not be that someone appeared with an Italian football star.
The true athlete always tries to grow, learn and improve
And so the years have passed for a football that in any case has never been part of the main world organizations. A key figure of the Vatican, Cardinal Bertone, made it very clear almost 20 years ago, sliding a considerable dose of criticism. “I prefer to remain an amateur. Uniting UEFA would be like a business. The important message of friendship and love is transmitted through sports: real sport, not today's football … not only does it matter to win a game, but how you behave. Maybe hard, no doubt pure”In 2015, to allow other sports disciplines to unite, the Associazione Sportiva Sporta Sport in Vatican was created from a denonomination change, in which the ball actually continues to send.
And finally the female irruption, beyond the fact that the Vatican team, supported by the ecclesiastical hierarchy, He.
There is football in the Vatican. And so much that there is. Now what is missing is a Pope who drives him as Francesco. Next week, conclave.
