On the Nov. 3 episode of “All Good Things with Archbishop Hicks,” Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks reacted to Pope Leo’s message at the Eternal City Tip-Off about the unity of sports.

When the Villanova Wildcats’ men’s and women’s teams faced off against Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish in the Eternal City Tip-Off at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome on Nov. 1, Pope Leo XIV couldn’t help but express his pride in his alma mater.

“So the pope doesn’t take sides,” Pope Leo XIV said while at his papal audience the day before the basketball game. “[Robert] Prevost has another opinion, but we won’t do that now.”

Archbishop Hicks and co-host Fr. Dave Dwyer chatted about the pope’s health and how his Villanova pride was on full display during the Nov. 3 episode of The Catholic Channel on Sirius XM podcast, “All Good Things with Archbishop Hicks.”

“He looks great, his message was warm and enthusiastic and you could connect right away,” Archbishop Hicks said.

At a Mass before the game, the pope spoke about how sports offer unity and an opportunity for human connection.

“There’s something about it… he connected that all to human dignity,” the Archbishop of New York added. There’s something that’s similar about faith, similar about sports, anything that can bring us together and help us simply be human on a very good level with each other. There’s something wonderful about that.”

This conversation is part of All Good Things with Archbishop Hicks on SiriusXM’s The Catholic Channel (129) and Catholic Faith Network.

If you have a question for the archbishop, you can send it by email to catholicchannel@siriusxm.com for a chance to be answered on “All Good Things.”