16 June 2025 – During a visit to Rome and the Vatican at the weekend, IOC President Thomas Bach had a private meeting with the new Pope, His Holiness Leo XIV.
In the meeting, the IOC President and the Pope agreed on the importance of the Olympic values of solidarity and peace, and they discussed how to strengthen these values.
During the Olympic Games Paris 2024, a message of hope and peace went from Paris to the entire the world emphasising the unifying power of sport. In this context, the IOC President informed His Holiness about the message of peace issued by athletes just before the start of these Games. The message came from the athletes from the territories of all National Olympic Committees and the Refugee Olympic Team, and in particular countries at war, including athletes from Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Palestine, Iran and Yemen.
The two also discussed the IOC Refugee Olympic Team and the work of the Olympic Refuge Foundation, which brings sport and its benefits to refugee camps and migration centres across the entire world.
Finally, they discussed artificial intelligence (AI) and the Olympic AI agenda. President Bach described the IOCs approach: harnessing the benefits of AI whilst preserving human dignity, and at the same time emphasising the value of solidarity, so that all can benefit, not just a privileged few.
After a special Mass in St Peter’s celebrating the link between sport and faith, Pope Leo delivered his “Angelus” prayer in St Peter’s Square, in which he said that sport is a way to “create peace, because it is a school of respect and fairness”. He encouraged those present for his address to consciously practise this style and to oppose all forms of violence and oppression. “Sport is not only physical performance, but also a path to humanity,” he added.
“In a competitive society where it seems that only the strong and the winners deserve to live, sport also teaches us how to lose,” said the Pope, and he emphasised the importance of sport for society: “Sport is more than just performance; it can bring people together, overcome loneliness and give hope.”
President Bach was in Rome for the Jubilee of Sport, a Vatican event celebrating the connection between sport and faith, as part of the wider Jubilee celebrations. Earlier, speaking at a conference entitled “Momentum for Hope”, the IOC President outlined the power of the Olympic Games to unite the entire world in peaceful competition.
“The athletes showed us how the world would be if we all lived in this Olympic spirit of peaceful coexistence. These athletes created a culture of peace,” he said.
“These Olympic Games captured the hearts and minds of the five billion people who followed them around the globe. Three-quarters of these people considered the Olympic Games to be more important than ever before in this divided world. And they said the IOC was successful in uniting the entire world in peaceful competition, and in this way making the world a better place through sport.”
