Trophy Ref 140 - 4/5 cm Clericus Cup in resin

Replica cup of the Clericus Cup Trophy

The Clericus Cup is an annual football tournament featuring teams from the Roman Colleges, seminaries of the Catholic Church located in Rome. During the fourth season (2010), the tournament involved sixteen schools and fielded players from 65 nations, most from Brazil, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. The players are usually seminarians studying to become priests. A handful of players are ordained priests. The annual tournament is organized by the Italian Sports Center (CSI). The league was founded in 2007.

Officially, the league's goal is to "reinvigorate the tradition of sports in the Christian community." and has been called "the clerical equivalent of soccer's World Cup." In other words, it exists to provide a venue for friendly athletic competition among the thousands of seminarians, representing nearly a hundred countries, studying in Rome. The league is the brainchild of Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, who is an unapologetic soccer fan. While some media outlets have suggested that the Church hoped to offer a type of football free from football hooliganism, the reality is that the game on the pitch is intensely competitive. The teams that regularly compete for the eight playoff spots are, on the pitch, fierce rivals.