Recalling the famous Christmas soccer match that occurred between opposing forces at the beginning of World War I, Pope Leo XIV said it is “always possible to meet, even in a time of division, bombs, and war,” and people must create opportunities to do so.

He was speaking on Tuesday evening to participants of a charity soccer match taking place in the Italian town of L’Aquila.

“La Partita del Cuore” (“The Match of the Heart”) is organized by the Vatican’s Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesù and the Italian Caritas, and the proceeds from the event go to their initiative “Progetto Accolgienza” (“Project Welcome”), which supports the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome.

The match is the 34th edition of this initiative, and will be between a team of musicians and a team of politicians. It will also feature a concert with various Italian artists and

“Dear friends who are playing or attending the Match of the Heart, this meeting of yours prompts me to share some reflections, starting with the meaning of the words that define it: ‘Match’ and ‘heart’,” Leo said in his video message.

“Match, in this case, means encounter. A meeting where even adversaries find a cause that unites them: This year, in particular, that of the children who ask for help, the children arriving in Italy from war zones, and who are being welcomed by a project of the Hospital and the Bambino Gesù Foundation and Caritas Italia. It seems increasingly difficult, almost impossible, to find spaces where these things can be heard,” the pope said.

He said the vent reminded him of the December 25, 1914, match during the Christmas truce that took place in Ypres, Belgium. He also noted it was depicted in a film, Joyeux Noël, and in a Paul McCartney song, “Pipes of Peace,” which was released in the 1980s.

“It is still possible—it is always possible—to meet, even in a time of division, bombs, and war. We must create opportunities to do so. To challenge divisions and recognize that this is the greatest challenge: Meeting. To contribute together to a good cause,” Leo said. “To bring broken hearts back to unity, our own and those of others. To recognize that in the heart of God we are one. And that the heart is the place of encounter with God and with others.”

He said “Game” and “heart” become two words to be conjugated together.

“And it’s also wonderful that this is happening at a charity event that is both sporting and televised. And that raises funds for life, for healing, not for destruction and death,” Leo continued.

“Sport — when it’s well-experienced by those who practice it and those who support it — has this great thing: It transforms conflict into encounter, division into inclusion; loneliness into community. And television, when it’s not just connection, but a communion of gazes, can help us rediscover how to look at each other. With love instead of hate,” the pope said.

The pontiff said it was significant that the two teams playing at the charity event were politicians and singers.

“It tells us that politics can unite instead of divide, if it doesn’t settle for propaganda that feeds

on the creation of enemies but instead practices the difficult and necessary art of confrontation, which seeks the common good. And it also reminds us how music enriches our words and our memories with meaning from the time we, as children, began to speak and remember,” he said.

“Children — to whom this meeting of yours is dedicated — know these things. They have the purity of heart that allows them to see God,” Leo added.

He said he hoped people will look children in the eyes and learn from them.

“May you rediscover the courage to welcome and be men and women of encounter. And the strength to believe and ask for a truce, a time that will stop the pursuit of hatred. Our humanity is at stake. May this game of peace score a point in its favor,” the pope said.

Last year, “Progetto Accolgienza” helped over 4,300 families with over 100,000 overnight stays at the Bambino Gesù Hospital.

Vatican Media reported the project also includes the hospital’s support for child patients who, along with their families, come from the world’s most disadvantaged countries, whether suffering from war or lacking basic healthcare services.