Pope Leo XIV presided over the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday and invited Catholics to enter the “dynamism of God’s inner life” and be open to encounter with others.
Celebrating the solemnity, which coincided with the June 14–15 Jubilee of Sport, in the Vatican on the morning of June 15, the Holy Father asked pilgrims who belong to sports teams and associations to glorify God through their daily training.
“Dear athletes, the Church entrusts you with a beautiful mission: to reflect in all your activities the love of the Triune God, for your own good and for that of your brothers and sisters,” the Holy Father said in his Sunday homily.
Though the “juxtaposition” of celebrating the Trinity and sport may seem “somewhat unusual” at first, Leo said the relationship between the two reveals God’s infinite beauty is reflected in “every good and worthwhile human activity.”
“For God is not immobile and closed in on himself, but activity, communion, a dynamic relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which opens up to humanity and to the world,” he said.
“Sport can thus help us to encounter the Triune God, because it challenges us to relate to others and with others, not only outwardly but also, and above all, interiorly,” he explained.
Sport as a school of virtue, encounter, and sanctity
According to the Holy Father, in a society marked by solitude, digital communications, and competition, sports are “a precious means for training in human and Christian virtues.”
He said families, communities, schools, and workplaces can be places where genuine encounters among people can take place.
“Where radical individualism has shifted the emphasis from ‘us’ to ‘me,’ resulting in a deficit of real concern for others, sport — especially team sports — teaches the value of cooperating, working together, and sharing,” Leo said.
“These, as we said, are at the very heart of God’s own life,” he added.
Comparing healthy and unhealthy attitudes toward sport, the Holy Father emphasized that sport is more than an “empty competition of inflated egos” and is also a means of sanctification and evangelization.
“St. John Paul II hit the mark when he said that Jesus is ‘the true athlete of God’ because he defeated the world not by strength but by the fidelity of love,” he said.
“It is no coincidence that sport has played a significant role in the lives of many saints in our day,” he continued.
Reflecting on the life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, the patron saint of athletes who will be canonized on Sept. 7 alongside Blessed Carlo Acutis, Leo told the congregation — several of whom belong to sport teams and associations — “just as no one is born a champion, no one is born a saint.”
“It is daily training in love that brings us closer to final victory and enables us to contribute to the building of a new world,” he said.
First Angelus address
In spite of 95-degree summer heat, thousands of pilgrims spilled into St. Peter’s Square after Mass to listen to Leo’s first Angelus address delivered in front of the basilica.
Continuing his message of sports as a means to foster a “culture of encounter and fraternity,” the Holy Father emphasized the “great need” for peace and an end to “all forms of violence and aggression” in the world.
The Holy Father asked for the intercession of Our Lady Queen of Peace before praying his first Angelus in the square in Latin and urging his listeners to pray for the end of conflicts in different parts of the world.
Calling for the end of conflicts in countries including Myanmar, Ukraine, and the Middle East, the Holy Father gave particular attention to the persecution of Christians in the African countries.
“Some 200 people were murdered, with extraordinary cruelty,” the pope said, referring to a massacre that took place in the village of Yelwata in Nigeria overnight.
“Most of the victims were internal refugees who were hosted by a local Catholic mission,” he lamented.
The Holy Father also appealed for the end to the civil war in Sudan, which began in 2023 and has since claimed thousands of lives, including the life of parish priest Father Luke Jumu, who died from his wounds after a bomb attack in El Fasher.
“I call on the international community to intensify efforts to provide at least basic assistance to the people affected by the grave humanitarian crisis,” he continued.
