While the Paul VI Audience Hall has historically welcomed heads of state, royalty, and massive streams of pilgrims, Saturday brought a decidedly different crowd: roughly 7,000 college basketball players, guests, and supporters.
Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, hosted the men’s and women’s teams from his alma mater, Villanova University, where he graduated in 1977, alongside their traditional rivals from the University of Notre Dame. The audience preceded the official opening of the U.S. college basketball season, with both schools scheduled to face off on Sunday at Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport in the Eternal City Tip-Off.
Villanova, home of the Wildcats, is based in Pennsylvania, while Indiana-based Notre Dame maintains a deep-rooted following in the South Side of Chicago where the pope, born Robert Prevost, was raised.
Addressing the crowd, the pontiff playfully navigated his personal loyalties between the competing Catholic institutions. “Growing up on the south side of Chicago, we oftentimes heard, ‘Go Irish.’ But as you all know, Prevost graduated from Villanova,” Leo said, drawing cheers and laughter from the assembly. “So the Pope doesn’t take sides. Prevost has another opinion, but we won’t do that now.”
Shifting to a more reflective tone, Leo acknowledged the natural human impulse to cheer passionately for one’s own side while reminding attendees that opposing athletic teams are certainly not enemies.
The unique convergence left observers joking about the competitive dynamics on the horizon. For Notre Dame, Sunday’s challenge involves facing an opponent whose most famous alumnus holds a direct line to heaven, while Villanova potentially boasts the ultimate sixth man.
