Vatican doesn't buy football club

My new Facebook friend Ronnie Convery has drawn my attention to an amusing tale that I wanted to share with all of you. In a declaration released yesterday afternoon, according to VIS, Holy See Press Office Director Father Federico Lombardi S.J. denied recent reports that the Vatican or the Italian Episcopal Conference have bought the Italian football team Ancona, which plays in the third division. (Update: Matthew Syed has covered it in our Thunderer column in today's Times, Thursday. And the Pope actually had an audience with the club, as the International Herald Tribune reports.)

Ancona football club and the "Centro Sportivo Italiano" have recently signed an agreement involving the application of an ethical code in the administration of the team, alongside a new model of economic management, the promotion of a sporting culture among the fans, and support for social initiatives in the Third World. For its part, the "Centro Sportivo Italiano" has undertaken to seek sponsors for the club.

"The Vatican and the Italian Episcopal Conference have nothing to do with this project," declared Fr. Lombardi. "There are initiatives which have positive and commendable aims and, if the declared intentions can be effectively achieved, this is certainly a good thing," he said adding, however, that this does not mean that this is an initiative of the Vatican or of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

The Holy See Press Office Director went on: "The Church must not be attributed with responsibilities she does not have, although she may view positively the commitment of lay Catholics in various fields, including that of sports."

Comments

[Peter Bridgman]

I'm not sure why Ruth has drawn our attention to this non-story.

Can we look forward to "Vatican doesn't sponsor Eastenders" and "Vatican doesn't buy Sainsburys?"

[David Cohen]

We used to have a Five-A-Side team at university called "Athletico Vatican". There is nothing new under the sun!

[Chris Gillibrand]

Whoever owns Ancona, I will still support Manchester United until my dying day.