Pope Leo: Sport is medicine for body and spirit

By Devin Watkins

Pope Leo XIV met on Thursday with members of the Italian Swimming Federation and participants in the International Swimming Championships.

The 62nd Sette Colli Trophy takes place at the historic Foro Italico Swimming Stadium in Rome on June 26-28, and serves as a final qualifying event ahead of the upcoming European Championships and Mediterranean Games.

In his address, the Pope said sport can serve as medicine for the body and the spirit, if it is approached correctly.

“It integrates the various dimensions of the person and directs them toward very important values, such as commitment, solidarity, and honesty,” he said.

In competitive sporting activities, added the Pope, an athlete reveals the quality of their motiviations as they exercise willpower and drive to perform.

Besides bodily health, sport also provides an opportunity for spiritual nourishment, especially swimming, noted Pope Leo.

“Swimming is practiced while immersed in an element, water, which surrounds the person,” he said. “This symbolically recalls an aspect that has shaped us from our mother’s womb: to live means learning to move in harmony with others and with the environment around us.”

For Christians, he noted, water symbolizes Baptism and our new life in Christ.

Pope Leo recalled that participants in the Sette Colli Trophy competition come from around the world, inspired by the same passion and values that transcend language or culture.

“This aspect, which is typical of international sporting events, offers a sign of hope, a sign of the world we desire,” he said. “It contributes to peaceful encounter among peoples and to fraternity.”

Pope Leo XIV encouraged professional swimmers to continue practicing and spreading the values of sport, entrusting them to the intercession of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati.

“The age of competition passes, but those values remain!” he said.

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