A Pope who played the game right

In 1978, when Pope John Paul II had a swimming pool installed at the Vatican, it made more than just a ripple.

- BY REX CLEMENTINE

A few Cardinals raised eyebrows at the cost-after all, it wasn't exactly a drop in the holy bucket. But when word reached the Pope, he waved away the murmurs with a smile and said, "Cheaper than a conclave." For a man who lived and breathed his daily laps, it was a matter of staying afloat - literally and spiritually. John Paul II wasn't just a man of prayer but also a man of play, once donning gloves as a goalkeeper in his native Poland.

When he elevated the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, to the rank of Cardinal, he knew he was passing the torch to a kindred sporting soul. The two are said to have often bonded over football - a sacred ritual in Argentina almost as fervent as Mass itself.