Photos: Erika Lanzafame

A group of Maltese priests is heading to Poland with an unusual mission: representing the country for the first time in an annual futsal championship for Catholic priests in Europe.

Poland – the reigning champion – is hosting the 18th edition of the European Futsal Championship of Catholic Priests, a championship which was launched in Austria in 2003 and since organised annually, with an interruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Eighteen national teams will be taking part in the championship, which will be held in the city of Lublin, and for the first time, Malta will be among them.

The Maltese team is captained by Fr Bernard Micallef, a keen athlete who in comments to Newsbook Malta on Monday morning – just before the team flew to Poland – recounted how he was looking forward to the experience and had reason to do so.

Fr Bernard had travelled to Hungary for last year’s championship, after an attempt to organise a Maltese team for that edition fell through, and recalled the atmosphere of fraternity among priests hailing from different countries and experiencing different realities.

The event makes a point of emphasising this fraternity and encouraging its athletes to exchange their experiences, with an itinerary that involves religious and cultural activities beyond the tournament itself.

Joining Fr Bernard are five Maltese priests – Fr Matthew Pulis, Fr Daniel Cardona, Fr Marco Portelli, Fr Josef Mifsud and Fr Sergio Fenech – and three foreign priests who are studying at the University of Malta and staying at Casa Fratelli Tutti, a residence for student-priests at the entrance of the Archbishop’s Seminary in Tal-Virtù: Zambian priest Fr Peter Tembo and Nigerian priests Fr Kenneth Tochukwu Anona and Fr Fidelis Sopuruchi Iroka.

The team has been training regularly at the gym of the Armed Forces of Malta – Fr Sergio is the AFM chaplain – with occasional training sessions at the Savio College in Dingli.

They will be facing fellow priests from Portugal, Croatia and Slovenia in the first phase of the tournament.

Source: Newsbook.com.mt

Article written by John Paul Cordina