Vatican Launches Track Team Made Up of Nuns, Clergy, Swiss Guard, and Other Staff

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A Vatican team at the Olympics? 😲

The Holy See launched an athletics team comprised of Swiss guards, priests, nuns and more!

👉https://t.co/DrmLCNNQ8Z👈 pic.twitter.com/jpANW4G3nh

— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) January 11, 2019

A new international sports team may have a supernatural boost: Vatican representatives announced last week that the city-state has launched a national track and field team.

The group will start with about 60 members, pending official clearance and a health examination required by the Italian government, Father Melchor Jose Sanchez de Toca y Alameda, team president and the head of the Vatican’s sports department in the culture ministry, told Runner’s World.

Members - Age - Variety - Professions - Vatican

Those members range in age from 18 to 62, and have a variety of professions within the Vatican.

“There’s all types of people—it cuts across the Vatican world. There is one nun, three or four clergy, the rest are lay people,” Sanchez explained. Those lay people include those who work for Vatican radio and newspaper, the fire department, the Vatican archives, and the Swiss Guard.

Farm - Castel - Gandolfo - Town - North

There’s even one who works on the farm at Castel Gandolfo, a town north of Rome that’s known as the Pope’s summer residence. “He’s a milkman,” said Sanchez. “He brings milk and eggs every day in the morning from Castel Gandolfo to the Vatican City.”

The Holy See launched an athletics team comprised of Swiss guards, priests, nuns and more!

Team - Members - Fast - First - Michela

Some of these team members are pretty darn fast. First of all, there’s Michela Ciprietti, who won the 2018 Vienna Half Marathon in 1:22:57.

“She has won several half marathons in Italy, and also 10Ks. She works at the Vatican pharmacy, but her winning has nothing to do with her work at the pharmacy!” Sanchez joked.

Giovanni - Buontempo - Priest - New - York

There’s also Giovanni Buontempo, an Italian priest who has lived in New York, and runs a mean 10K. “He’s really fast. His name literally means ‘good time.’ It was destiny.”

The team meets up every week or so to train together, but it’s tough, as most members...

(Excerpt) Read more at: Runner's World

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