Villanova and Notre Dame bring college basketball to Rome. Dinner is on the line.
Villanova and Notre Dame will open their men’s and women’s college basketball seasons with games in Rome on Nov. 1. Pope Leo XIV, a Villanova alumnus, is scheduled to meet delegations from both universities before the games; whether he will attend the matchups is unknown. The Augustinians and the Congregation of Holy Cross have wagered that the losing congregation will host the winners for Mass and a meal. The event reflects growing ties between both universities and Rome, including Villanova’s recent conference and Notre Dame’s sustainability and Vatican initiatives.
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Villanova and Notre Dame will open the men’s and women’s college basketball seasons with games in Rome on Nov. 1, bringing together two prominent Catholic universities whose ties to Pope Leo XIV and the Vatican have grown during his papacy. The matchup also carries a friendly wager between the religious congregations that run the schools: the losing order will host the winning one for Mass and dinner. 1
The games, billed as the “Eternal City Tip-Off,” will be played at Rome’s 11,200-seat Palazzo dello Sport. Leo is scheduled to meet delegations from both universities the day before, though the Vatican has not said whether he will attend the games. Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez will celebrate Mass for the university communities at St. Peter’s Basilica. 1
Leo graduated from Villanova in 1977, and the university has promoted his connection in Rome, including with airport advertising. He has also shown familiarity with the basketball program: Villanova’s team chaplain said Leo followed the Wildcats’ championship runs in 2016 and 2018, and the pope has recalled attending games at Philadelphia’s Palestra as a student. 1
Notre Dame, meanwhile, has developed closer Vatican ties during Leo’s papacy. The university partnered with the Vatican on a sustainability education initiative launched in March at Borgo Laudato Si’, and Notre Dame faculty have been appointed to Vatican advisory roles. 1
The Augustinians, who run Villanova, and the Congregation of Holy Cross, which runs Notre Dame, agreed that the order whose university has the higher combined score across the two games will win. The other congregation will host its counterparts for Mass and a meal; the order leaders described the arrangement as a chance for fellowship whichever side loses. 1
The weekend will include more than basketball. Participants are also scheduled to take part in a sports-and-spirituality seminar and a service event with the Special Olympics, with organizers presenting the gathering as an opportunity to highlight Catholic education and the universities’ shared emphasis on evangelization and education. 1
The meal’s menu reflects the congregations’ origins rather than their universities’ home regions: the Augustinians plan an Italian meal, drawing on their roots in Tuscany, while Holy Cross plans French cuisine, recalling its founding in Le Mans. The details had not yet been settled. 1*
Catholic education integrates sport, intellectual formation, and communal life
Catholic education is not meant to form only the mind, or only the body, but the whole person. Sport can contribute to that education when it is joined to intellectual growth, moral and spiritual formation, and life in community. It is not simply a break from learning: well-integrated sport can teach habits and relationships that classroom instruction alone cannot supply.
The Church’s approach is neither to reject sport nor to treat athletic success as an end in itself. Sport is valuable when it respects the dignity of the person and serves human development. Practiced well, it can train people in self-discipline, sacrifice, respect for rules, loyalty, and friendship. It can also help young people grow in virtues such as fortitude, temperance, prudence, and justice.
The Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life describes sport as capable of educating a person “to the fullness of life” and opening that person to transcendence—that is, to realities beyond immediate physical achievement. This does not make every game a religious lesson. Rather, sport can become part of a Christian education when its experience of effort, limits, cooperation, and beauty is placed within a wider understanding of human life and the person’s relationship with God.
“Sport is also a way to introduce young people to the cardinal virtues of fortitude, temperance, prudence and justice and facilitate their growth in them.”
Intellectual formation remains central: students need to learn, think, investigate, and understand the world. Catholic education, however, seeks to connect knowledge with life rather than confining learning to the transfer of information. A Church document on Catholic schools and universities describes them as communities where learning flourishes through the integration of research, thinking, and lived experience.
Sport can support that integration. It gives students concrete situations in which to reflect on rules and fairness, the use of talent, cooperation, responsibility, failure, and achievement. These experiences do not replace academic study or moral instruction; they can give students practical occasions to understand and exercise what they are learning. Catholic teaching also warns that sport must remain a game, especially in education, rather than being reduced to relentless pressure to win or perform.
Sport is also social education. In a team or club, people depend on one another, learn to compete with mutual respect, and form relationships across differences. The Church’s document on sport describes this as a “culture of encounter,” and insists that participation should not be reserved only for the most talented. Making room for people with different abilities, including those who are disadvantaged, helps sport serve the community rather than reinforce exclusion.
That fits the wider purpose of a Catholic school community. A Catholic educational community teaches communion—living together in welcome and harmony—not only through lessons but through authentic relationships among its members. The document specifically includes sport, theatre, and social service among the activities that can foster students’ creativity and socialization.
For sport to contribute to Catholic education, it needs to be connected to an educational and pastoral purpose. Coaches and school leaders should help students develop athletic ability without allowing competition to eclipse their dignity or the virtues education seeks to cultivate. Pope Benedict XVI’s message on youth sport highlights its potential for human and spiritual growth while warning against practices such as doping that damage the body and distort the nature of sport.
Integration also involves families and the wider school community. Parents, teachers, and school leaders can help shape sports activities toward students’ integral development. The Church’s guidance cautions, for example, that Sunday sporting events should not excuse families from attending Mass or weaken family and community life.
The central point is that Catholic education can treat sport as a genuine educational practice, not merely as entertainment or a route to prestige. Joined to intellectual learning, ethical guidance, and relationships of mutual respect, it can help students become not only more capable athletes but more mature, responsible, and attentive members of a community.