CG: With the start of the World Cup in South Africa just days away, soccer fever is in the air, even at the Vatican. On this week’s Vatican Report we’ll look at the how the Holy See has long been a fan of sports and isn’t just cheering from the sidelines, but is also in the game. I’m Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service Rome Correspondent.CW: And I’m Cindy Wooden. Even though there are many ills plaguing today’s sports world, the church believes athletics can teach people important virtues and promote peace and solidarity around the world. In an effort to support today’s athletes, fans and more ethical play, the Vatican established a Church and Sport office in 2004. It was the brainchild of Pope John Paul II -- one of the most athletic Popes in memory -- he loved skiing, swimming, hiking and soccer.CG: Other Popes, too, loved sports. Pope Pius XI was an alpinist. He was the first to summit Switzerland’s highest peak from the eastern slope and he also climbed the Matterhorn and Monte Blanc, which even has a trail named after him. Pope Pius XII was passionate about sports and let St. Peter’s Square become a basketball court for a historic game of hoops in 1955. Blessed Pope John XXIII was a cycling fan as was Pope Paul VI. Pope Paul flourished the starting flag for the first stage of the Tour of Italy in 1974 right inside the Vatican.CW: The first soccer match ever played in the Vatican was in a courtyard below the papal apartments in 1521. Pope Leo X watched the game from his window. But the first official Vatican-organized intramural soccer matches didn’t kick off until 1947. Today Vatican teams include monsignors from the Secretariat of State and other Vatican offices as well as the Swiss Guards, employees from Vatican Radio, the post office, the Vatican newspaper, the Museums and the library. Even the Sistine Chapel choir has a team. They all battle it out each year for the Vatican Cup and the Super Cup.CG: But it’s not just amateur sports that catches the Vatican’s attention. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, is a die-hard fan of Turin’s Juventus team. He used to do radio commentary for Italy’s top division soccer matches when he was archbishop of Genoa. A few years ago he joked that the Vatican should form its own soccer team to compete on Italy’s national circuit. While he later clarified he was just kidding, he was serious when he told a national Catholic sports association to create a soccer tournament starring seminarians studying in Rome. The idea took off and the Clericus Cup was born. The tourney attracts nearly 400 players each year. Its fourth season just ended and seminarians from the Neo-catechumenal Way just won their third cup. The U.S. seminarians from the North American College came in second, losing by just one point.CW: Vatican Radio airs a live hour-long sports talk-show every Monday.  It features guests such as cardinals, coaches and lay experts, analyzing the sporting events played over the weekend. Portuguese Cardinal Saraiva Martins is a frequent guest and he roots for Roma’s archrival, Lazio. When he used to head the congregation in charge of creating saints, another cardinal joked that there were probably many holy men and women in heaven who were partial to interceding on Lazio’s behalf. Not so this year. Roma beat Lazio 2-1. I’m Cindy Wooden.CG: And I’m Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service.

CG: With the start of the World Cup in South Africa just days away, soccer fever is in the air, even at the Vatican. On this week’s Vatican Report we’ll look at the how the Holy See has long been...leggi tutto