( CNN ) -- Football should be used to teach young people moral lessons , Pope Benedict XVI said during an audience with representatives from the Italian football league and lower division clubs . Pope Benedict XVI is presented with a football by Ancona club officials . Italian football has been tarnished in recent seasons by corruption , match-fixing scandals and crowd trouble , but the pope insisted the sport celebrated positive virtues as well . `` The sport of football can be a vehicle of education for the values of honesty , solidarity and fraternity , especially for the younger generation , '' the pope said , according to Italy 's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper . The comments are not the first foray by the Bavarian-born pope -- reputedly a Bayern Munich supporter -- into Italian football . In October , he was presented with a No . 16 shirt by officials of the lower league club Ancona after the Vatican endorsed its campaign to turn itself into a `` beacon of morality '' by adopting an `` innovative , ethical model of practising football , '' Reuters reported . The code committed Ancona to promoting fair play in a family atmosphere . The club is currently second in Serie C1/B , Italian football 's third tier league . `` Football should increasingly become a tool for the teaching of life 's ethical and spiritual values , '' the pope said . Pope Benedict XVI 's predecessor , Pope John Paul II , was also a keen football fan , reportedly playing in goal during his youth in Poland . All Italian football matches were cancelled on the weekend following his death in 2005 . E-mail to a friend .
Pope believes football can promote values of ` ` honesty , solidarity and fraternity '' Sport should be used as a medium of communication for young people , he says . Vatican has supported lower league club Ancona 's adoption of ethical code . German - born pope is reputed to be a Bayern Munich fan .