(ZENIT News / London, 05.07.2024).- The Vatican’s Cricket Team toured England to compete and to spread a message of friendship, unity and evangelical hope, inspired in Pope Francis’ Bull for the Jubilee Year.
In the 2024 tour, called “Light of Faith,” four T20 cricket games were played. One of the most awaited games was that against King Charles III’s team, the King’s XI, which was held in Windsor on Wednesday, July 3. The Pope’s official delegation played against the King’s Royal Household Cricket Team, with a very tight marker. King Charles’ team won by just one point. The game was held in Windsor Castle’s cricket field.
Before the game began, Father Eamonn O’Higgins, LC, Director of the Vatican Team, read a message from the Holy Father, signed by the Vatican Secretary of State. The message, addressed to Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Education and Culture (on which the Cricket Team depends), sent greetings to both teams. The Pontiff expressed the desire that these meetings might serve to build bridges of fraternal solidarity, to promote Christian unity, and to engage in generous charitable activities at the service of our neediest brothers.”
Read, after the Pope’s message, was the King’s message, in which the Monarch recalled that it was the fourth game between the Royal Cricket Team and the Vatican’s. He was “delighted” that both teams were “once again united by the love of cricket.”
In this context, Father O’Higgins awarded a medal and handed a letter to the Team’s Patron, British businessman John Spurling. The letter, signed by Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça, thanked Mr Spurling for his support and stressed the importance of “sports diplomacy.”
During the tour, the Vatican’s cricket team also visited Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey and the Parliament. In addition, they played against England Seniors and St. Mary’s University.
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