As a Vatican athlete competed in the 2022 Mediterranean Games in Oran, Algeria, Pope Francis sent a message to athletes who attended Mass at a Marian shrine there.

“The Mediterranean Games are a concrete witness of a type of sport which can act as a bridge between religions and different cultures, a bridge which is necessary now more than ever, as the Mediterranean often becomes a huge cemetery,” the Pope said. “Vatican Athletics bears concrete witness to the solidarity inherent in sport, through the welcome extended to young migrants and people with disabilities.”