Game, Grace, Glory: Pope Francis preached through sport
Argentina legend Maradona (R) meets Pope Francis. PHOTOS/COURTESY
What you need to know:
Sporting Pope. The world mourns the passing of Pope Francis, a shepherd of souls who saw in sport not just a game, but a gospel—a way to bind humanity together in hope, humility, and harmony across the globe and in different religions and cults.
Easily the best Pope of our generation and many before us because of his simplicity. Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1937, passed away yesterday on Easter Monday, aged 88, after a decade-long papacy that reshaped the Catholic Church and offered sport a seat at the altar of global healing.
He was the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and the first from the Global South, a Jesuit, and a man who never shied from using the language of the streets and stadiums to speak to hearts across continents
The Argentine pontiff died just a day after Christians worldwide celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ - marking a spiritually symbolic close to the life of a man who often used sports to preach about rebirth, renewal, and reaching the margins.
The Pope hosted Bayern Munich in 2014.
His death reverberated beyond basilicas and pews - it reached football fields, basketball courts, Olympic arenas, and slums where the world’s most vulnerable found hope in his message. Pope Francis will be remembered as a trailblazer who turned balls and boots into instruments of peace and discipleship.
Beautiful game & beautiful mind
A lifelong supporter of Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, Francis would often refer to football as "more than just a beautiful game.” Growing up in 1940s Buenos Aires, he’d attend matches with his father, eventually becoming a club member and renewing it as Pope in 2013 - just days after his election.
He often referenced footballers like the iconic Lionel Messi and idolized Diego Maradona not just for their talent but their ability to inspire the world. And when Argentina won the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, his joy - though private due to humility - was palpable.
In his speeches, he used football metaphors to inspire teamwork, hard work, and communal living. “Play as a team, not for yourselves,” he told the Vatican’s youth sport summit in October 2016, adding, “Even the best player needs the team.”
Basketball fairytale & human values
What many didn’t know was that the Pope once played basketball as a boy. Towering among his friends, young Jorge was known for his energy on the court in the 1950s, and in later years, he carried with him a tattered sports card - his humble connection to his youth and the discipline sport gave him.
He loved the unity in basketball, once saying in a 2015 audience that the game’s back-and-forth rhythm taught him how “life flows when we pass and trust.
Sport as a sermon
From 2014 onwards, Pope Francis used major sporting events as platforms for spiritual reflection. He addressed athletes at the Vatican’s 2016 Jubilee for Sports, where he encouraged them to compete with heart and soul, not just for medals.
His teachings focused on five key pillars: Sports as a place of fraternity, a tool for evangelization, a vehicle for character formation, a platform for inclusion and dignity and a bridge for peace and reconciliation.
Ugandans take heed
Uganda’s sports administrators and youth coaches have a chance to reflect on Pope Francis’s approach. In a nation brimming with raw talent yet still battling issues of athlete development and post-career abandonment, the Pope’s teachings offer a roadmap.
Botswana Olympic champion Letslie Tebogo has his spikes signed by Pope Francis.
He reminded the world that sports can be a ministry - coaches as educators, federations as communities, and athletes as ambassadors of both faith and discipline.
Uganda’s budding footballers, netballers, cricketers, ruggers, hockey players and track stars can be equipped with more than just tactics. They can be given purpose. They can be taught how to play for the people, not just the prize.
Legacy of hope
Pope Francis believed that sports had the power to build bridges where politics failed. In 2021, during the Tokyo Olympics, he called sport “an antidote to division,” and praised the Paralympics as a sign that “limitations do not diminish dignity.”
His papacy will live on, not just in stained glass or solemn homilies, but in stadiums, street pitches, and school yards. Athletes around the world - Ugandan or Argentine - can walk tall, knowing that their journey, their struggle, and their joy mattered to the highest spiritual office.
Pope Francis now rests, but his words run on - like a faithful player endowed with belief chasing the final whistle with grace.
POPE FRANCIS’S SPORTING TIMELINE
December 17, 1936: Born in Flores, Buenos Aires, Argentina
1940s–50s: Plays basketball and watches football with his father in Buenos Aires.
1973: Becomes Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in Argentina emphasizing sport in youth ministry.
1998: Appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires, continues engagement with youth - sport and San Lorenzo FC.
March 13, 2013: Elected Pope Francis; renews San Lorenzo membership a week later.
2014: Hosts Interfaith Match for Peace, bringing together world football stars in Rome.
2015: Urges athletes “to be champions of the heart” during an address to the Italian Olympic Committee.
October 2016: Jubilee of Sport at the Vatican - calls sports “a sign of peace, fraternity, and inclusion.”
2021: During Tokyo Olympics, highlights the dignity of Paralympians and value of teamwork in a divided world.
April 21, 2025: Pope Francis dies, aged 88, as a card holder for Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro - his local team in Argentina.
