Madrid’s famous Bernabéu soccer stadium, normally packed with fans of the Real Madrid football club, roared with cheers and songs of praise to the Lord June 8 as 80,000 Catholics prayed together with Pope Leo XIV.
Soccer
As World Cup approaches, Pope Leo’s June prayer intention is for sport to foster peace and encounter
With the FIFA World Cup opening this month, Pope Leo XIV has dedicated his June prayer intention to the power of sport to build bridges between cultures and nations, releasing a video prayer calling on athletes, coaches, and fans alike to embrace the field as a space of encounter rather than division.
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, Catholic dioceses across the United States are preparing for what many see as both a pastoral opportunity and an unprecedented moment of global encounter.
Mexico’s bishops called on the country to “work together toward peace” after a massacre on a soccer field in west-central Guanajuato state claimed 11 lives and injured a dozen more.