St Peter's Cricket Club launched at Pontifical Council for Culture
(Vatican Radio) A press conference took place in the Vatican on Tuesday to announce
the official launch of St Peter’s Cricket Club, an initiative being jointly spearheaded
by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Australian embassy to the Holy See.
Philippa Hitchen went along to find out more:
Listen:
Traditional
tea and cucumber sandwiches were served at the launch of the new St Peter’s Cricket
Club, which ambitiously aims to bring one of the world’s most popular sports to the
heart of the Eternal City. Board members include Indian, British, Irish and Australian
priests, plus the Sri Lankan captain of the first Italian national team, currently
ranked at number 23 in the world, proving that it’s not just in the English speaking
world that the cricket craze can be found Beginning with the organization of an
inter-college tournament for priests and seminarians here in Rome, the Club hopes
by next year to field a high standard ‘Vatican’ team that could play internationally,
while promoting ecumenical and interfaith exchanges. The driving force behind this
initiative is the Australia’s ambassador to the Holy See, John McCarthy: "It is
hoped that there will be a team of sufficient level, in the next year (that) could
play a team nominated by Church of England.....anything that properly builds interfaith
and intercultural relations, understanding and exchange, the Commonwealth of Australia
sees as an important part of our diplomacy"
The new cricket club comes under
the patronage of the Pontifical Council for Culture, in particular its sports department
headed by Spanish Msgr Mechor Sanchez de Toca "There is no doubt that sports have
an important place in millions of peoples' daily lives.....so this phenomenon deserved
our particular study.... sports are a powerful means to convey values, attitudes,
a moral and ethical message" Members of the new club are expected to play in the
yellow and white Vatican colours with the keys of St Peter as their emblem. Numerous
bishops and cardinals across the cricket world have already given their enthusiastic
support to the project, seen as a way of furthering a vital team spirit among young
men training for the priesthood. Perhaps the popular expression, ‘the Vatican thinks
in centuries’ will suddenly take on a whole new meaning as St Peter’s batmen stride
out to play