Pope Leo welcomes stars of US college basketball to the Vatican | CNN

October 31, 2026 • 03:09 PM

• By Oliver Sherwood

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Pope Leo XIV met the basketball teams from two US colleges at a rare gathering in the Vatican, which included the pope’s former university, Villanova. The men’s and women’s sides from Villanova, and Notre Dame, known as the Fighting Irish, will duke it out at Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport on Sunday, in the opening game of the season. The first American pope, born Robert Prevost, who graduated from Villanova in 1977, told the audience he would not be taking sides, but still dropped a rather large hint at where his allegiance might lie.

Pope Leo welcomes stars of US college basketball to the Vatican | CNN

Pope Leo XIV met the basketball teams from two US colleges at a rare gathering in the Vatican, which included the pope's former university, Villanova. The men’s and women’s sides from Villanova, and Notre Dame, known as the Fighting Irish, will duke it out at Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport on Sunday, in the opening game of the season. The first American pope, born Robert Prevost, who graduated from Villanova in 1977, told the audience he would not be taking sides, but still dropped a rather large hint at where his allegiance might lie.

Tags:

#pope-leo

#vatican

#basketball

#villanova

#notre

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