Pope Leo XIV welcomes Napoli: “The important thing is not the feat, but having been a team.”
The Italian champion went to the Vatican to present the Pope with a signed shirt.
Pope Leo XIV received Napoli in a private audience at the Vatican on Tuesday after their victory in the Italian Serie A , their fourth in their history, and stressed the importance of having been a “team” above all else throughout the championship.
After four days of celebration in a city paralyzed by the team’s feat, Napoli went to see the pontiff on Tuesday, led by President Aurelio De Laurentiis , who gave him a club shirt with the number 10, always linked to Diego Armando Maradona , and the name of Leo XIV, signed by all the players.
Before beginning his speech, the American pope joked about rumors that he is a Roma fan: “That’s what the press says, and not everything you read is true… Dear friends, welcome! And congratulations on winning the championship. A great celebration for the city of Naples.”
“Winning the championship is a goal achieved at the end of a long road where the most important thing is not the feat. The championship is won by the team, and when I say ‘team’ I mean both the players , the coach and the entire team, as well as the club . And I want to highlight this aspect of their success, which I consider the most important,” he emphasized.
A concept, that of “team,” which he also conveyed as the great example the club set for the younger generation.
“I think the social value of an event like this, which goes beyond the mere sporting aspect, is the example of a team working together, in which individual talent is put to the service of the community,” he noted.
Furthermore, Leo XIV underlined the importance of the “educational aspect” of this victory , because “when sport becomes a business, it runs the risk of losing the values that make it educational, and it can even become counter-pedagogical.”
“I appeal to parents and sports officials: we must be very careful with the moral quality of the competitive sports experience, because the human growth of young people is at stake . I think we understand each other, and there’s no need for many words,” he warned.
The Pope ended with a special congratulations from his own cook, Rosa, a fan of the team : “Congratulations also from a lady who is cooking for me these days. She’s from Naples and she sends me her congratulations as a great fan.”
Napoli thus ended a brilliant season, following Monday’s huge celebration in which more than 200,000 people gathered on the city’s seafront to accompany the two open-top buses that carried the players with the trophy.
At the party, Aurelio De Laurentiis revealed the more than likely signing of Belgian Kevin De Bruyne and the squad asked their coach, Antonio Conte , to keep him with the team, despite reports in Italy suggesting that his future next season will be with Juventus Turin.
