Pope Leo XIV sends a video message to participants in an Italian charity event, and insists on the importance of promoting dialogue and peace in a world plagued by divisions.
Newsroom (16/07/2025, Gaudium Press)In a heartfelt video message released today, Pope Leo XIV called for unity and peace, emphasizing the power of sports, music, politics, and media to bridge divides and foster solidarity. The Pope’s remarks were directed to participants of “La Partita del Cuore” (“The Match of the Heart”), a charity football match and concert held in L’Aquila, Italy, organized by the Holy See’s Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital and the Italian Caritas.
“Our humanity is at stake. Let this match that speaks of peace mark a point in its favor,” the Pope declared, urging attendees to “look into the eyes of children” to find the courage to embrace others and advocate for a truce in times of conflict. He stressed the necessity of creating opportunities for unity, stating, “It is still possible, it is always possible, to come together, even in a time of divisions, falling bombs, and war.”
A Cause for Life and Healing
The 34th edition of “La Partita del Cuore” brings together musicians and politicians in a friendly football match, complemented by a concert featuring prominent Italian artists. The event supports “Progetto Accolgienza” (“Project Welcome”), an initiative providing accommodation and material aid to underprivileged families, both Italian and international, whose children require treatment at Bambino Gesù Hospital.
Pope Leo highlighted the symbolic importance of the event, noting that the word “match” signifies a meeting where even opponents unite for a shared cause. “Match and heart thus become two words to be conjugated together,” he said, praising the initiative for “gathering funds for life, for cures, not for destruction and death.”
Historical Inspiration for Peace
Drawing on history, the Pope referenced the 1914 Christmas Truce during World War I, when French, English, and German soldiers played football near Ypres, Belgium. This moment of unity, immortalized in the French film Joyeux Noel and Paul McCartney’s 1983 song “Pipes of Peace,” serves as a reminder of humanity’s capacity for connection amid conflict. “Contribute together to a good cause,” the Pope urged, encouraging efforts to “bring broken hearts back to unity.”
The Role of Culture and Politics
Pope Leo emphasized the transformative potential of sports, music, television, and politics in fostering unity. He described sports as a force that can “transform confrontation into encounter, division into inclusion, and solitude into community” when practiced and supported with integrity. Television, he noted, can promote communion through love rather than hate, while politics should prioritize “the difficult and necessary art of constructive dialogue” over divisive propaganda.
Music, the Pope added, enriches human experience by infusing words and memories with meaning, a quality particularly evident in children, to whom the event is dedicated. “Children… have the purity of heart that enables them to see God,” he concluded.
A Call to Action
The Pope’s message resonates as a call to action for individuals and institutions to create spaces for dialogue and solidarity. By supporting initiatives like “La Partita del Cuore,” he believes society can reaffirm its commitment to life and hope, countering the challenges of division and conflict in today’s world.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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