Pope Francis met with members of a soccer squad known as the “Pope’s Team – Fratelli tutti” ahead of a friendly match on Sunday.
The Pope said that he had joyfully welcomed a proposal for a game involving a papal team, meeting the players and their opponents on 20 November.
The team, he joked, does not consist of cardinals — who range in age from 54 to 97. Instead, the players include Swiss Guards, priests working in the Roman Curia, and Vatican employees and their children.
The pope explained that the squad — which will sport soccer jerseys bearing the name of the pope’s most recent encyclical — also features a young player with Down syndrome, a participant in the Special Olympics, and three migrants.
“Thank you all for accepting to be part of the ‘Pope’s Team,’” he said. “It is a team where there are no barriers and that makes inclusion a simple normality, ” the Pontiff said.