22-05-2025
Athletica Vaticana: Jubilee of Sport to foster ‘Momentum of Hope'
On the Jubilee of Sport in mid-June, the Augustinianum Institute in Rome will host an international conference to explore the Church's desire to support the 'Momentum of Hope' offered by sport. May 22, 2025
Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo (center), holding an Athletica Vaticana t-shirt
By Giampaolo MatteiThe Jubilee of Sport is scheduled for June 14-15 and will open with an international conference, entitled 'The Momentum of Hope.'
Organized by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the conference will be held at the Augustinian Patristic Pontifical Institute, near St. Peter's Square.
Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, the Dicastery's Prefect, and Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, will deliver the opening remarks.
Afterward, four athletes will share their testimonials 'from the field.'
- Sergio Conceição, from Portugal, current coach of AC Milan and former player for Porto, Lazio, Parma, and Inter, as well as a member of his national team;
- Letsile Tebogo, a 22-year-old Olympic 200m champion at the Paris 2024 Games, from Botswana. On August 29, 2024, he met Pope Francis and shared the memory of his mother, who died of cancer;
- Valentina Vezzali, one of the greatest fencers in history, with nine Olympic medals (six gold) and 26 World Championship medals (sixteen gold);
- Amelio Castro Grueso, a fencer who competed with the Paralympic Refugee Team at the Paris Games. Born in Colombia, his mother was killed when he was 16, and he later lost the use of his legs in a road accident and found redemption in life through sport—and above all through faith.
Other presenters at the conference will include Giampaolo Mattei, President of Athletica Vaticana; the Spanish priest and 2012 Olympic hockey player Litus Ballbé Sala; Paola Gigliotti (Sentiero Frassati); the Salesian sister Francesca Scialbetta; and the photographer Giovanni Zenoni.
The event will be moderated by Novella Calligaris, a journalist for the Italian news outlet Rai News 24 and swimming star, and Alessandro Gisotti, Deputy Editorial Director of the Dicastery for Communication.--Vatican News
