Poland wins the 18th edition of the European Clericus Cup
From the 9th to the 13th of February, the 18th edition of the European Clericus Cup (Euro Priests) - 2026, a five-a-side football tournament reserved for priests (clericus), began in Lublin (Poland). It started in 2004 with the aim of bringing together priests from various countries in the Balkan area through sport, an initiative that subsequently spread to other European countries.
As Pope Leo XIV states in his recent letter on sport, ‘Life in Abundance,’ pointing to sport as a laboratory of peace: ‘When sport is practised in this spirit and under these conditions, it fosters the growth of community cohesion and common good.’
This year's edition, one of the largest ever, brought together around 300 participants from 18 European countries: Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Kosovo, Austria, Hungary, Belarus, Albania, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Portugal, Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia and Italy. To view all of the participants, click here: https://sport-diecezja-lublin.pl/reprezentacje-ksiezy/
In addition to sporting activities, the event also included an extensive programme of liturgical celebrations, conferences and cultural visits. The Clericus Cup was sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, represented by don Miguel Cardoso, who attended the last day and the closing ceremony.
In his message to the participants, read during the Eucharistic celebration on the morning of the 12th of February, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça congratulated the organisers of the event, represented by the Bishop of Lublin, Monsignor Stanisław Budzik, and made two appeals to all participants: gratitude and commitment: "Gratitude for this witness of sportsmanship, which makes of sport an interior resource that enriches the equilibrium of body, soul, and spirit (1 Th 5:23) and an exterior sign that upholds sport as a workshop of fraternity, peace, and hope. Additionally, I would like to entrust these priests with a pastoral responsibility: to be sowers of an ever more active and organised pastoral care for athletes in your dioceses, so that ‘sport may be a vehicle of faith’ and ‘faith a guiding light for sport’.
At the end of the tournament, for the record, the winner of this edition of the Clericus Cup was Poland.
Message to the participants in the XVIII European Clericus Cup
On the occasion of the XVIII European Clericus Cup, I would like to thank the Bishop of Lublin (Poland), His Excellency Mons. Stanisław Budzik, for welcoming and organising this event, and likewise I would like to thank all the other organisations that have collaborated on and sponsored this initiative.
The Holy Father told us during the Jubilee for Sport: ‘it is no coincidence that sport has played a significant role in the lives of many saints in our day, both as a personal discipline and as a means of evangelisation’. For this reason, I would like to address a brief word of gratitude and of responsibility to all the priest participants.
Gratitude for this witness of sportsmanship, which makes of sport an interior resource that enriches the equilibrium of body, soul, and spirit (1 Th 5:23) and an exterior sign that upholds sport as a workshop of fraternity, peace, and hope.
Additionally, I would like to entrust these priests with a pastoral responsibility: to be sowers of an ever more active and organised pastoral care for athletes in your dioceses, so that ‘sport may be a vehicle of faith’ and ‘faith a guiding light for sport’.
May the Lord bless you all, and may this perishable crown be a reflection of the imperishable crown (1 Cor 9:25).
Vatican City, 5 February 2026
José Tolentino Cardinal de Mendonça
Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education
In the photo, don Miguel Cardoso with Marcin Grzesiak.
