It could very well be the biggest sporting event ever held inside the walls of the Vatican. The Giro d'Italia will pay homage to the late Pope Francis by passing through the Vatican gardens behind St. Peter's Basilica and in front of the Santa Marta hotel—which was where Francis lived—during the final stage of the cycling race on June 1. More than 150 cyclists will pedal for nearly two miles through an area of the Vatican rarely seen by the general public and live TV images will broadcast the scenes around the world. "The original idea was to have Francis signal the start of the last stage to promote the Vatican and the Eternal City in the 2025 Holy Year," Giro director Mauro Vegni told the AP on Tuesday.
Francis, however, died last week at 88. "We wanted to go right up to Casa Santa Marta because we knew the pope was aging, so we thought he could come down and offer a blessing to start the final stage. Then unfortunately things turned out differently. But it will remain an homage to Francis," Vegni added. By June, there should be a new pope. "On any given Sunday, there will be as many people watching sports as maybe participating in religious functions. And sometimes the same people," said Bishop Paul Tighe, the No. 2 in the Vatican's culture and education ministry. "So this is a way of saying that this is the human reality that celebrates human achievements. That is important for us as a church."
The cyclists will enter the Vatican through the Petriano gate to the left of St. Peter's, ride around the basilica and then climb up toward the gardens before exiting near Santa Marta at the Perugino gate. "It's not going to be a competitive moment. It's more a moment symbolically that they're there," Tigue said. After leaving the Vatican, the final Giro stage follows an 89-mile route concluding with a circuit of eight laps through downtown Rome and the finish next to the Colosseum. Francis was a big soccer fan and often hailed sports as a way to promote solidarity and inclusion, especially for young people.
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