In a powerful June 15 homily marking the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity and the Church’s first-ever “Jubilee of Sport,” Pope Leo XVI urged athletes and spectators to reclaim the nobility of sport as a path to human flourishing, fraternity, and spiritual renewal.
“This combination of Trinity and Sport is somewhat unusual, yet the juxtaposition is not inappropriate,” Pope Leo said in his Sunday homily. “Every good and worthwhile human activity is in some way a reflection of God’s infinite beauty, and sport is certainly one of these.”
Celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo drew a striking connection between athletic competition and the nature of the Trinity.
“For God is not immobile and closed in on himself,” he said, “but activity, communion, a dynamic relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, which opens up to humanity and to the world.”
The Pope also cited St. John Paul II’s 1984 remarks on sport’s capacity to forge bonds of friendship and resist what he then called the “harsh laws of production and consumption.”
Echoing his predecessor, Pope Leo warned of modern forces that erode authentic community, including digital alienation, social isolation, and hyper-competitiveness.
He highlighted three key values embedded in sport: “the value of cooperating, working together, and sharing,” “a healthy contact with nature and with real life,” and the humility to confront “our fragility, our limitations and our imperfections.”
In an Angelus address later that day, Pope Leo called sport a means of “‘re-creation,’ in the noblest sense,” adding that, “by engaging in this wholesome pastime we in some sense resemble our Creator.”
He urged athletes to become witnesses to peace by rejecting violence and bullying and instead compete with “a spirit of generosity.”
On social media, the Pope expanded on his message, warning of a culture fractured by technology and individualism.
“In a society marked by solitude,” he wrote on X, “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. These are at the very heart of God’s own life.”
In another post, he described sports as a remedy for digital alienation, writing:
“In an increasingly digital society, where technology brings distant people closer together, yet often creates distances between those who are physically close, sport proves a valuable and concrete means of bringing individuals together, providing a healthier sense of the body, of space, effort and real time.”
The remarks came days after the pope delivered a historic video message to American youth gathered at White Sox Rate Field for a special event hosted by the Archdiocese of Chicago.
As CatholicVote reported, the pontiff emphasized unity, hope, and community — themes woven throughout his growing papal emphasis on faith incorporated into everyday human pursuits.