Posted on 01/18/2019 8:52:08 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
A new international sports team may have a supernatural boost: Vatican representatives announced last week that the city-state has launched a national track and field team.
The group will start with about 60 members, pending official clearance and a health examination required by the Italian government, Father Melchor Jose Sanchez de Toca y Alameda, team president and the head of the Vatican’s sports department in the culture ministry, told Runner’s World.
Those members range in age from 18 to 62, and have a variety of professions within the Vatican.
“There’s all types of people—it cuts across the Vatican world. There is one nun, three or four clergy, the rest are lay people,” Sanchez explained. Those lay people include those who work for Vatican radio and newspaper, the fire department, the Vatican archives, and the Swiss Guard.
There’s even one who works on the farm at Castel Gandolfo, a town north of Rome that’s known as the Pope’s summer residence. “He’s a milkman,” said Sanchez. “He brings milk and eggs every day in the morning from Castel Gandolfo to the Vatican City.”
Some of these team members are pretty darn fast. First of all, there’s Michela Ciprietti, who won the 2018 Vienna Half Marathon in 1:22:57.
“She has won several half marathons in Italy, and also 10Ks. She works at the Vatican pharmacy, but her winning has nothing to do with her work at the pharmacy!” Sanchez joked.
There’s also Giovanni Buontempo, an Italian priest who has lived in New York, and runs a mean 10K. “He’s really fast. His name literally means ‘good time.’ It was destiny.”
(Excerpt) Read more at runnersworld.com ...
TTIBWP..y
(this thread is better without pics .. yikes)
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, known as "The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican" during World War II, was a prize fighter before he went to the seminary. While working at the Vatican, he was an expert golfer.
The name of the track team is “cursum perficio” (latin for “the good race”).
CC
I’m critical of about 95% of what comes out of today’s Bergoglio-headed Vatican, but I don’t have a problem with this. Sports are generally a healthy, wholesome activity. Better athletics than coke-fueled outings to Roman night clubs. The Vatican has had a cricket team for a while (mostly Indian players, I think), and they’ve traveled around playing local clubs. It’s kind of a cool thing, and I think there’s been talk of putting together a soccer team. Women’s soccer can be a bit dyke-ish, so they may want to skip that one.
I The Running Nun?
The Vatican took in a couple of “refugee” invader families I think; how long before they go recruiting to Kenya or Ethiopia for the track team?
/s
Choir boys are out in front...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.