St Mary’s Hosts Vatican Cricket Team as Part of their ‘Tour of Light’

On Friday 12th September St Peter's Cricket Club, the Vatican’s Cricket Team, will arrive at St Mary’s University, Twickenham as part of its ‘Light of Faith Tour’. The visit, from 12th to 20th September, will see a party of Vatican priests, deacons and seminarians participate in a five-match tour of the country where they will play several teams including the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department, St Peter’s cricket Club (Brighton), Authors XI, Royal Household Cricket Club. The tour will culminate in a match against a team drawn from the Church of England at Kent County Cricket Club at the Canterbury Cathedral. St Mary’s is the oldest and largest Catholic University in England and, with the recent appointment of Cardinal Vincent Nichols as the University’s Chancellor, was selected to host part of the eight day tour. The visit, which is the first of its kind, will see a team of 14 priests, deacons and seminarians who study in Rome, take part in a series of cricket matches, as well as meeting with members of other faiths. The team will be based at St Mary’s Strawberry Hill campus for the first six days of the tour, before departing for Canterbury. Team Manager Fr Eamonn O’Higgins said, “The St Peter’s XI are above all seminarians and priests dedicated to the Catholic priesthood, with its many great demands. We are primarily seminarians and priests who play cricket rather than cricketers who happen to be seminarians and priests. Cricket is the medium, the context, in which bonds of faith and friendship can be established, creating what Pope Francis calls ‘a culture of encounter’. This is the fundamental goal of our Light of Faith Tour to England in September.” Bishop Richard Moth, Chair of Governors at St Mary’s, said, “I am delighted at St Peter’s Cricket Team will be based at St Mary’s for part of their tour. As a Catholic University with a very fine Sports Programme and first class sports facilities, it will be an ideal place for the team to stay. Their tour will bring them into contact with a wide range of people and opportunities for ecumenical engagement. St. Mary’s wishes them well for an enjoyable and fruitful tour.”