For the first time ever, a Vatican representative is competing at the cycling world championships (18-25 September) in Australia. His name is Rien Schuurhuis, of Dutch origin. And he is paving the way to the prestigious cycling arenas for the country's athletes.

The rider's spouse is Chiara Porro, Australia's ambassador to the Vatican. The portals are silent about the other backstories of the unknown rider's promotion. So one might think that it was the wife who arranged for her husband to be nominated for the event, but nothing of the sort. The proper procedures were followed.

The UCI (International Cycling Union) was the first of the important world federations to accept the Vatican into its ranks. The taekwondo federation was the second to do so. But this is only a temporary state. A small country from a big city has Olympic ambitions.

The Pope's marathoners...

As a reminder: Vaticana covers 44 hectares and has around 1,000 inhabitants who work there and spend their free time in various ways, including sport. A group of amateur runners founded a club called 'Athletica Vaticana' in 2017.

SIGN UP TO OUR PAGE "The Pope's marathoners", as they are referred to by the media, practise a variety of professions. They include soldiers of the Swiss Guard, firefighters, professors, journalists, pharmacists, museum employees, priests and one nun with a passion for running, motorbikes and skis.

The group has 60 members aged between 20 and 60, and the club it has founded has become a corporate showcase for the sport, was it not, of the state. In January this year, 'Athletica Vaticana' entered into a bilateral agreement with the Italian Olympic Committee, a member of the IOC.

The Italian Athletics of which 'Athletica Vaticana' has become a member is a part of the Italian Olympic Committee. This is where the road to the Games leads. Not an easy one. Not short. But possible.

Before the flag of the Holy See flies at the opening of the Games, it is free to fly at all international competitions in which its representatives compete. For example, at the Mediterranean Games or the Small States of Europe (less than 1 million inhabitants), etc.

The serious approach to the matter is indicated by the fact that Vatican athletes do not only train solidly. Thanks to their agreements, they can benefit from training, scientific and medical care just like other Italian athletes.

Citizen footballers

The range of disciplines practised in the Peter's Capital is gradually expanding. It started with fun, but it will not end with it. The growth curve of Vatican sport mirrors the evolution of sport in general. It is a natural and inevitable process.

Anyone who comes into active contact with sport undergoes a peculiar transformation. At first, he does it for pleasure and entertainment as a typical amateur, which does not mean that he remains indifferent to the perceptible signals of progress. No one is ever indifferent to it.

It's normal for everyone to want to be better than before. This is how sporting ambitions are born. Both in those who actively play a sport and in those who support and organise sporting life in a given place. In the case of the Vatican, these are the cardinals and the sport-friendly popes.

There have been two such in recent decades. Pole John Paul II, who we know liked and appreciated sport. And Pope Francis, a native Argentinian and an undisputed football fan. The care of the Bishops of Rome and the efforts of the cardinals are accelerating the development of sport in the Vatican.

It started years ago and, not surprisingly, with football. Back in 1972, the Vatican Football Federation was set up. Two teams were formed, within a league competing for the championship of a country lying on just over 40 hectares, so fun all round.

The league grew by leaps and bounds until it had grown to a size of eight teams, so that a national team could be selected, which it did in 1994. It was not a national team, as it consisted mainly of citizens from foreign countries, with the exception of one.

For this reason, FIFA could not admit the Vatican national team to the World Cup of countries not affiliated to its ranks, nor could it accept them into its structures. And this has not changed to this day. The Vatican national team can only play friendly matches.

However, efforts are underway to raise the profile of the Pope's team. Among other things, by trying to interest Vatican football in professionals from the community, such as Giovanni Trapattoni, who has led the team in a few matches.

So much for growing ambitions. The status of an outstanding professional does not translate into the status of a team that remains on the margins of world football. To change this, two things need to mesh: a higher level of sportsmanship and formal football citizens.

Members of the Swiss Guard are suitable in theory, but in practice they are not. They are suitable because they are citizens of the Vatican. They are also young and in good physical condition. But they are not suitable for a simple reason - if they took up training and matches in earnest, there would be no one to protect the Pope.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, otherwise a staunch Juventus supporter, came up with an idea for solving the situation. He calculated meticulously that at least 40 clerics, graduates of Cartesian youth centres, play football regularly.

From these boys it would be possible to build a cadre promising for future success. The clerics come from different countries, including Brazil and Italy, so the problem of nationality would still be open. But it would be a step forward, especially in sporting terms.

This approach is a classic of the genre. All sports activists in the world focus on the development of their sports. Cardinal Bertone also thinks like a sports activist. The difference is in the specific circumstances, but the goals are similar.

Sportsman as a model of virtue

The Holy See does not, of course, forget its mission. It wants to promote sport in a Christian spirit by assigning it specific tasks. It has published a comprehensive document on the matter with an accompanying letter from Pope Francis.

The main message of the publication is summarised in its title - 'Giving your best'. In his letter, the Pope elaborates on this thought, taking a closer look at the Church's social vision towards sport and athletes. He emphasises its communal dimension, uniting across divisions. In his view, it is extremely important that every athlete should also be a model of virtue.

The content of the Vatican document resembles the Olympic Charter in some parts. In some respects it supports the ideas contained therein. However, it does not stop there. At the end of September (29-30), the Vatican is planning an international sports congress.

This congress is the second highlight of the month on the interface between the Vatican and sport, apart of course from the participation of a Vatican cyclist in the world championships. The congress will be held under the slogan 'Sport for all - connecting, accessible and to everyone's potential'. At the end, an important declaration will be signed.

An important and very interesting declaration, as it aims to bridge the gap between professional and amateur sport. We do not know what these differences are or what this levelling up will involve. We will undoubtedly find out soon enough.

This initiative is interesting in that it goes in exactly the opposite direction to the one in which the entire world sport has been heading for the past half century, with considerable difficulty and determination, until it finally reached the finish line. Virtually eradicating amateurism.

Pressure for success

The Vatican's cyclists, taekwondo fighters and athletes already have an open path to international sporting competition. Soccer players, both male and female, remain in the waiting room. Basketball players are still doing it just for fun. But the cricket team has a pretty high standard.

The team is made up of seminarians from countries renowned as global powers in the sport, such as Australia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England. There is, of course, the invariable problem of nationality, but not of sporting level.

And the better the sport, the greater the pressure to succeed. The consistent Cardinal Bertone has a good chance of finalising his project. Increasing the number of citizens of the state, of which there are a mere 600, to, say, 620, may one day be possible.

If another equally supportive cricket-oriented cardinal had been found, this sport too could have entered the big game. Even with more momentum than football, because with a better sporting drive and therefore significant results right from the start.

Only that this game is quite risky. Its rules are based on the hard laws of the market, and sports results are used to multiply profits, often at any cost. This market is toxic today, and it is not worth dimming that it is otherwise. The Olympic Charter and the rules it contains have long been of no practical use.

So can fully opening this market to Vatican athletes make a difference? Will this market more quickly turn Vatican amateurs into professionals in every dimension? Have things gone too far?

Doesn't the domination of material values over spiritual ones, including the Christian spirit, require a deeper transformation of the world in which sport is reflected as in a mirror, so it is as it is?

The International Congress of Sport at the Vatican will probably raise these issues. And the planned declaration to abolish the distinction between professional and amateur sport may, I suppose, be a kind of admonition and a warning to not forget fundamental values.

Unfortunately, amateur sport, in modern practice, is sometimes just as dangerous as professional one. Multitudes of amateur marathoners or triathletes routinely use doping to win prizes - to satisfy ambitions, risking their health and sometimes their lives.

Today's sport, despite appearances, is not as simple as it seems. Its paths are tangled, not easy to find the right one. The Vatican's athletes are only at the beginning, looking for their own path, although they all lead through this toxic market. Time will tell if they will find their path, different and original, and if it will be possible at all.

– Marek Jóźwik
-Translated by Tomasz Krzyżanowski

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists