Will Villanova alum Pope Leo attend game vs Notre Dame in Rome?

For the first time since Michigan and UCLA cut down the nets last April, men’s and women’s college basketball will tip off across the country on Monday.

For Villanova and Notre Dame, however, the new campaign begins a day earlier, as both schools’ men’s and women’s teams will open their seasons Nov. 1 in Rome.

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Rome, you ask? As in the city near the Vatican, where Pope Leo, a Villanova graduate, now resides? The answer is yes.

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Since his election by the College of Cardinals to be the successor to Pope Francis and the first American Pope in May 2025, Pope Leo’s sports side has been on full display back here in the States. There’s the “Pope Seat” at the Chicago White Sox’s Rate Field, which also saw the White Sox have a “Pope Hat Night” this past season, and then with his alma mater in June of 2025, where he put up his “V’s” after receiving a Villanova baseball cap.

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The doubleheader between the Wildcats and the Fighting Irish begins at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, with the men’s game followed by the women’s game at noon ET.

That all said, and working with the understanding that the doubleheader came together immediately after Pope Leo’s election, it’s raised some curiosity as to whether the Holy Father will be in the stands on Sunday for the games, as they’ll be in late afternoon, early evening local time — perhaps even wearing a Villanova jersey?

Here’s what to know:

Will the Pope be at Villanova-Notre Dame game? What to know of Pope Leo’s appearance for Rome college basketball game

It remains unclear whether Pope Leo will attend Sunday’s college basketball doubleheader in Rome.

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Speaking with USA TODAY Sports earlier this week, Villanova athletic director Eric Roedl said he was unsure of the Villanova alumnus’s…

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Publish date : 2026-10-31 03:08:00

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