Swimming An Opportunity For Spiritual Growth, Pope Leo Tells Sette Colli Athletes

Pope Leo XIV addressed the Italian Swimming Federation and other Sette Colli participants this Thursday.

The global leader of the Roman Catholic church welcomed the swimming community members into the famed Clementine Hall in the Vatican. In addition to the Italian swimmers, members of the Hungarian and German delegations were present. Adam Peaty, Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, David Popovici, and Sarah Sjostrom and her newborn son, Adrian, are also seen in pictures on the Vatican News website. See some of the pictures and videos from Instagram below:

Leo poses for a picture with the audience.

Hear parts of Leo’s speech above.

Slide 4: Pope Leo greets David Popovici, Sarah Sjostrom, and Sjostrom’s newborn son, Adrian

In his address to the athletes, the Pope talked about how sports, and particularly swimming, can be an avenue for spiritual growth.

“(Sport) integrates the various dimensions of the person and directs them toward very important values, such as commitment, solidarity, and honesty,” Leo told the decorated crowd.

“Swimming is practiced while immersed in an element, water, which surrounds the person,” he went on to say. “This symbolically recalls an aspect that has shaped us from our mother’s womb: to live means learning to move in harmony with others and with the environment around us.”  

Leo XIV then called for the athletes to pass on the positive values of sport beyond the pool.

“The age of competition passes, but those values remain!”

Athletes in attendance would go on to competed at the famed Foro Italico in Rome across the following three days. The meet saw two world records, two European records, and three Italian records, among other headline-worthy swims.