The Clericus Cup is an annual

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

tournament contested by teams from the

Roman Colleges The Roman Colleges, also referred to as the Pontifical Colleges in Rome, are seminary institutions established and maintained in Rome for the education of future ecclesiastics of the Catholic Church. Many of the colleges have traditionally taken s ...

, which are

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

located in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. During the fourth season (2010), the tournament involved sixteen schools and fielded players from 65 countries, with the majority coming from Brazil, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. The players are normally seminarians studying to be Roman Catholic

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

. A handful of players are

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

priests. The annual tournament is organized by the (CSI). The league was founded in 2007. Officially, the goal of the league is to "reinvigorate the tradition of sport in the Christian community" and has been called the "clerical equivalent of soccer’s World Cup." In other words, it exists to provide a venue for friendly athletic competition among the thousands of seminarians, representing nearly a hundred countries, who study in Rome. The league is the brainchild of the

Cardinal Secretary of State The Secretary of State of His Holiness (; ), also known as the Cardinal Secretary of State or the Vatican Secretary of State, presides over the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia. Th ...

Tarcisio Bertone Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone (born 2 December 1934) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and a Vatican City, Vatican diplomat. A Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal since 2003, he served as Archbishop of Vercelli from 1991 to 1995, as S ...

, who is an unapologetic football fan. While some press outlets hinted that the Church hoped to offer a brand of football free of football hooliganism, the reality is that play on the field is intensely competitive. The teams that regularly contend for the eight play-off spots are, on the field, fierce rivals.

The league

This competition had its beginnings in 2003 when Jim Mulligan, a seminarian at the Pontifical Beda College, founded a knockout tournament involving eight international teams from the Rome Seminary Colleges. This competition was then called THE ROME CUP. The first match in the competition took place in May 2003 between the Pontifical Beda College and The Venerable English College. (It was won 5 - 2 by the English College.) Fr Jim Mulligan is now a priest in the Archdiocese of Westminster, London and continues his sporting activities carrying out sponsored abseils and parachute jumps to raise money for various Church projects. The 2009 season drew 16 teams, representing 15 international seminaries, plus the

Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyola, and included all ...

. The league is divided into two sides or divisions: Division A and Division B. In 2009, Division A included four national seminaries (The

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Prie ...

, The Brazilian College, The French College, The Polish Institute) and two international colleges (San Paolo and Mater Ecclesiae). The Italian College of Sant'Anselmo, and the multinational

rounded out Division A. Division B included the Mexican College, The

Pontifical Roman Seminary The Pontifical Roman Major Seminary () is the major seminary of the Diocese of Rome. It is located at the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. Since 2017, the rector of the seminary has been Gabriele Faraghini, a priest of the Little Brothers of ...

, the Urbanianum (which fields players primarily from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

), as well as the religious institutes Augustinianum,

Sedes Sapientiae Seat of Wisdom or Throne of Wisdom (Latin: ''sedes sapientiae'') is one of many devotional titles for Mary in Roman Catholic tradition. In Seat of Wisdom icons and sculptures, Mary is seated on a throne with the Christ Child on her lap. For the ...

Redemptoris Mater ''Redemptoris Mater'' (Latin: ''Mother of the Redeemer'') is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II delivered on March 25, 1987 in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Subtitled ''On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church'', the text ...

, and Guanelliani Internazionale (The Servants of Charity). Two schools,

Almo Collegio Capranica The Almo Collegio Capranica is the oldest Roman college, founded in 1457 by Cardinal Domenico Capranica (1400–1458) in his own palace for thirty young clerics, who received an education suitable to prepare them for the priesthood. History ...

and Pio Latino merged to field the team Almo-Pio. The first season was played from February to May 2007. The second season began in November in of 2007 and finished on 3 May 2008. The regular season games were played at Oratorio San Pietro, on the Via di Santa Maria Mediatrice, 24. The third season was played from February to May 2009 with Redemptoris Mater winning the championship against the Pontifical North American College. The fourth season was played from February to May 2010 with the championship game again consisting of Redemptoris Mater against the Pontifical North American College. Redemptoris Mater won the championship game, 1–0, against the North American College, the same score as in 2009. During the second season, the inaugural and final match were held at the site of the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

: the

Stadio dei Marmi The Stadio dei Marmi ("Stadium of the Marbles") is one of four stadiums located in the colossal sports complex, the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy.Giorio, Maria Beatrice. “La Scultura Fascista Di Soggetto Sportivo Tra Bellezza e Propaganda Ideol ...

. In the third season, the opening game was officiated by one of Italy's top referees,

Stefano Farina Stefano Farina (19 September 1962 – 23 May 2017) was an Italian association football referee. Career Farina was born in Ovada on 19 September 1962. In a 27-year career, he refereed several high-profile matches in Serie A and the UEFA Champ ...

. The 2020 and 2021 seasons were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The 2022 season was scheduled but eventually cancelled as well. There was also no 2023 season.

News coverage

Despite the league's amateur status, it has attracted the attention of the professional football community. The president of the Union of European Football Associations (

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

) called the inauguration of Clericus Cup III (the 2009 season) "evidence of success" of the league. In 2009, the major Italian newspapers covered the league as a novelty – including ''

Corriere della Sera (; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...

'', ''

Il Giornale (), known from its founding in 1974 until 1983 as (), is an Italian-language daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 28,933 in May 2023. In 2006, it was considered one of Italy's main national newspapers. History an ...

'', ''

Corriere dello Sport ''Corriere dello Sport – Stadio'' is an Italy, Italian national sports newspaper published in Rome. It was founded in 1924 and renamed ''il Littoriale'' by the Fascist regime from 1927 until July 1943. Its current name dates back to 1977 after ...

'', and the anti-clerical ''

La Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

''. A video featuring a player from the Urbanium's team is available on the web.

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

reported on the North American College's road to the championship game in 2009. In the first two seasons, international newspapers often focused on events peripheral to the game itself. During the Clericus Cup II season, several international newspapers found the hyper-enthusiasm of the fans newsworthy. Redemptoris Mater's club, in particular, generated a very noisy fan base. The Pontifical North American College also employed a megaphone that annoyed both opposing players and neighbors alike. This led the local government to pass an ordinance banning the use of tambourines, percussion instruments, and loud speakers during morning hours – when most of the league's games are played. The media coverage has increased the profile of the league, whose talent continues to improve each year. The British press is fascinated by the Cup's use of a blue card, which British reporters labelled "the

sin bin The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence not ...

." Instead of the

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

and

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

cards, the blue card is a 5-minute bench penalty for unsportsmanlike play.

Championship results: 2007–2021

Teams reaching the top four

References

External links