Vatican City, Nov 11, 2021 / 09:00 am
Pope Francis will field a soccer team from the Vatican in a friendly match against a team of Roma people later this month.
The soccer match, which is intended to counter racism and discrimination, will be played on Nov. 21, in the town of Formello, 45 minutes north of Italy’s capital.
The match will also raise funds for a Roma inclusion project organized by the Diocese of Rome.
The pope’s team has been named “Fratelli Tutti,” after his 2020 encyclical, and includes members of the Swiss Guard, Vatican employees and their children, priests working in the Roman Curia, three young immigrants, and a young man with Down syndrome.