A Raven Talks Sports at the Vatican

Thursday, September 04, 2014

The Pontifical Council for Culture wrapped up an international seminar on sports Sept. 3, the feast of St. Gregory the Great. Participants discussed what the Church can bring to the realm of sports and attended a papal Mass with Pope Francis.

Linda Del Rio of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) said Benedictine College alumna and former Raven softball player Allison McCormick, who is now serving as a FOCUS missionary, was selected to give her testimony and recount faith-sharing stories from American college campuses.
 

“I am so very humbled and excited for this amazing opportunity,” said McCormick, “and so grateful to be able to represent my family, my friends, Benedictine College, my softball program” and her current FOCUS work. “None of this would be possible without the work of God and his providence.”
 

McCormick, who was twice named to the Benedictine College Dean’s list for her GPA, was also active in Benedictine College’s intramurals on the flag football team.
 

Dana Goss, softball coach at Benedictine College called McCormick’s Vatican invitation “a great honor and experience.”
 

“She called me that day to share the news,” said Goss. “She will be sitting in on the Council of Culture and Sport representing Benedictine College and the softball program.”
 

McCormick said sports are a critical focus for the New Evangelization.
 

“Sports are a huge industry and many people look to athletes as leaders,” she said. “If [athletes] know that we, as missionaries, invest in them, love them and share the Gospel with them, it will help to mold that generation of young leaders.”
 

Benedictine College, the birthplace of Focus, has been called the flagship college of the New Evangelization. For more on faith and sports at Benedictine College:
 

Football and Rosaries Go Together at Benedictine College

CYO Leader Wins Benedictine Young Alumni Award

Leaders on and off the Field at Benedictine College

American Catholic Hall of Fame: Sports Figures

Location