籃球宿敵造訪梵蒂岡　教宗良試圖保持中立

梵蒂岡城，10月31日（路透社）——歷任教宗曾在梵蒂岡的保祿六世大廳接待各國元首、王室成員，以及一車車前來朝聖的信徒。週六，教宗良接待了他昔日就讀大學的籃球隊；而在展現運動家精神之餘，他也接見了他們的對手，但這份精神也就到此為止。VATICAN CITY, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Popes have received heads of state, royalty and pilgrims by the busload in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall. On Saturday, Pope Leo received his old college basketball team and, in a show of sportsmanship that went only so far, their opponents.

良是首位美國籍教宗。他在約7,000名球員、賓客與支持者面前，向母校維拉諾瓦大學（Villanova）的男、女籃球隊，以及其對手聖母大學（Notre Dame）的球隊致意；良於1977年自維拉諾瓦大學畢業。Leo, the first American pope, greeted the men's and women's teams from his alma mater Villanova, where he graduated in 1977, and from their rival Notre Dame, before roughly 7,000 players, guests and supporters.

以野貓隊為主場球隊的維拉諾瓦位於賓州；聖母大學位於印第安納州，該校球隊以愛爾蘭戰士隊聞名，但在芝加哥部分地區擁有強大支持者，而本名羅伯特・普雷沃斯（Robert Prevost）的教宗就是在那裡長大。Villanova, home of the Wildcats, is in Pennsylvania, while Notre Dame, whose teams are known as the Fighting Irish, is in Indiana but has strong support in the part of Chicago where the pope, born Robert Prevost, was raised.

良說：「我在芝加哥南區長大時，我們常常聽到『愛爾蘭隊加油』。但如各位所知，普雷沃斯畢業於維拉諾瓦。」"Growing up on the south side of Chicago, we oftentimes heard, 'Go Irish.' But as you all know, Prevost graduated from Villanova," Leo said.

他接著說：「所以教宗不選邊站。普雷沃斯有另一個看法，但我們現在不談這個。」現場觀眾報以歡呼與笑聲。"So the Pope doesn't take sides. Prevost has another opinion, but we won't do that now," he added, to cheers and laughter from the audience.

這兩所天主教大學週日將在球場上一決高下。兩校男、女籃球隊將在羅馬 Palazzo dello Sport 體育館舉行的「永恆之城開季賽」（Eternal City Tip-Off）交手，為美國大學籃球賽季揭開序幕。The two Catholic universities will settle matters on the court on Sunday, when their men's and women's teams face off at Rome's Palazzo dello Sport in the Eternal City Tip-Off, opening the US college basketball season.

轉趨嚴肅後，良承認人們自然會想為自己支持的一方加油，而且常常非常熱情，但他也提醒群眾，對手球隊「當然不是敵人」。Turning more serious, Leo acknowledged the natural urge to cheer, often passionately, for one's own side but reminded the crowd that rival teams "are certainly not enemies".

對聖母大學來說，週日的挑戰顯而易見：要擊敗一支擁有最知名校友、且這位校友能直通天堂的球隊。至於維拉諾瓦，或許已經找到了終極第六人。For Notre Dame, the challenge on Sunday is obvious: beating a team whose most famous alumnus has a direct line to heaven. Villanova, meanwhile, may have found the ultimate sixth man.

（Gavin Jones 與 Yesim Dikmen 報導；Alex Richardson 編輯）(Reporting by Gavin Jones and Yesim Dikmen; Editing by Alex Richardson)