Pope Leo XIV welcomed Italy's newly-crowned Serie A champions Napoli to the Vatican on Tuesday (May 27), joking about his own soccer allegiances.

Napoli won their fourth "Scudetto" on Friday with a 2-0 home victory over Cagliari, edging out Inter Milan by one point in a nail-biting end to the season.

The team, captained by Italian international Giovanni Di Lorenzo, arrived for their papal audience a day after a triumphant open-top bus parade through central Naples.

"The press says I am an AS Roma fan, but you are welcome! This is what the press says. Not everything you read in the press is true," the pope said, according to a transcript.

Leo, the first pope to come from the U.S., follows and practices sports, including tennis. People who know him have described him to the media as an AS Roma supporter.

Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis gave him a blue Napoli jersey signed by players, bearing the number 10 and his name in Italian, "Papa Leone XIV".

In a short speech, the pontiff stressed the importance of team spirit and collaboration, and sport's educational value, especially for young people.

Winning comes "at the end of a long journey, where what matters the most is not a one-time exploit or the extraordinary performance of one champion", he said.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VATICAN CITY (MAY 27, 2025) (VATICAN MEDIA - Access all)

1. NAPOLI PLAYERS INCLUDING STRIKER, ROMELU LUKAKU, AND MIDFIELDER, SCOTT MCTOMINAY

2. NAPOLI MANAGER, ANTONIO CONTE, SITTING DOWN

3. POPE LEO XIV ARRIVING / PEOPLE APPLAUDING

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO XIV, SAYING:

''Winning the championship is an achievement at the end of a long journey, where what matters most is not the one-time exploit, or the extraordinary performance of a champion.”

5. CONTE AND NAPOLI PRESIDENT, AURELIO DE LAURENTIIS, LOOKING ON

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO XIV, SAYING:

''We know how popular football is in Italy and practically all over the world. So, from this point of view too, it seems to me that the social value of an event like this, which goes beyond the merely technical-sporting fact, is the example of a team, in the broadest sense, working together, in which the talents of individuals are put at the service of the whole.''

7. NAPOLI CAPTAIN, GIOVANNI DI LORENZO, LOOKING ON

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO XIV SAYING:

''Unfortunately, when sport becomes business, it runs the risk of losing the values that make it educational, and can even become diseducatory.”

9. NAPOLI STAFF LOOKING ON

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO XIV, SAYING:

''We must be very careful about the moral quality of the sporting experience at a competitive level, because the human growth of young people is at stake.''

11. POPE GIVING BLESSING

12. POPE RECEIVING NAPOLI JERSEY / POPE POSING FOR PHOTOS WITH DE LAURENTIIS / POPE TALKING TO CONTE

13. POPE, COACHING STAFF AND PLAYERS POSING FOR PHOTOS