Paolo pushes his daughter Sara's wheelchair as they run together. Migrants Ansou Cisse, Jallow Buba, and Charles Ampofo tread grass with the same feet that carried them away from the brutality of their homelands. Viktoria Gudyma, a mother from Ukraine, transforms a run into an act of peace.
Three stories. Three lives that enrich the already profound work of Athletica Vaticana, the official multi-sport association of the Holy See. Its members include Vatican City State employees, citizens, and residents, along with their immediate families. Nothing like this had existed before. Since the team was registered in the Register of Canonical Juridical Persons in 2018, it has never stopped moving forward.
Track and field, cycling, padel, cricket, taekwondo, and soon fencing and basketball—the association offers a diverse array of sports. The team competes in international and solidarity events: the 2021 debut at the European Small States Athletics Championships in San Marino; the World Road Cycling Championship in Australia; the Mediterranean Games in Algeria; sports outreach through the Apostolic Almonry, the Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary, the Seraphic Institute in Assisi, and the Community of Sant'Egidio. The association has signed protocols with Italian sports federations—including the Italian National Olympic Committee and the Italian Federation for Disabled and Experimental Sports—and won medals, including bronze at the European Small States Athletics Championships in Malta.
All of this is documented in the 2022 Inclusive and Solidarity Report (Vatican Press), which details not only achievements and future goals but also the founding principles of the association itself.
Pope Francis has said that Athletica Vaticana "bears witness in the streets and among the people to the solidarity of sport, welcoming young migrants and people with disabilities within its ranks." The team does not chase money or medals alone. It puts the person at the center—ensuring that no one, in the long and difficult marathon of life, is left behind.
This explains why the Marathoner's Prayer, born within Pope Francis's team and translated into more than thirty languages, has become the team's calling card. "Thank you, Lord, for letting me run and not leaving me alone at mile 22 of life (…). Thank you, Lord, for standing beside me in moments of exhaustion when sweat blurs my sight, when fatigue makes my legs bend, when I want to stop."
This is the essence of Athletica Vaticana: through sport—through sports—it builds relationships, breaks down barriers, and creates fellowship. The "I" becomes "we." It is the best way to know others and ourselves. In Paolo and his daughter Sara, in the migrants of the Auxilium Cooperative, in the Ukrainian mother, we recognize ourselves: amid all of life's cruelties, these women and men testify to the possibility of continuing to run. To breathe deeply, no matter what.