Pope Francis signed a padel racket — to support 500 poor families

Pope Francis joined a solidarity initiative of the FIP and the Vatican Padel Federation, signing a padel racket, which will be auctioned on Bullpadel channels to help 500 families in need.

Pope Francis received and encouraged - on Wednesday, April 26th - the promoters of a concrete solidarity initiative through sport.

The 'Holy Father' met with Luigi Carraro (president of the International Padel Federation), Alessandra Turco (director of Athletica Vaticana), and the Argentine player Delfina Brea to sign a specially designed padel racket, which will be auctioned in favor of the Vatican pediatric hospital 'Santa Marta' to sustain the service to 500 poor families with young children.

"As His Holiness recently said, 'Sport is a metaphor for life,' and if with the proceeds of this padel racket, we can improve the lives of the families supported by the Vatican Pediatric Hospital 'Santa Marta, ' we will have won, without doubt, the most beautiful and important trophy in the world," said FIP President Luigi Carraro.

The racket will be donated to the Santa Marta pediatric hospital, Pope Francis' "neighbors," which for 101 years has been welcoming poor families with small children of different nationalities, cultures, and religions, guaranteeing - in addition to food and diapers - the possibility of free specialized visits thanks to the availability of many doctors.

”I had never felt such a great emotion. I was baptized by Pope Francis when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires. If someone had told me that one day I would meet him again at the Vatican thanks to padel, how could I have believed him? Instead, it happened, and it happened to do something beautiful: to help children who have not been lucky. Helping them is not a duty but a privilege," said Argentine player Delfina Brea.