The College of Cardinals could compete in World Cup 2030

The Catholic Church and I have a rich history together. I went to Catholic school for 12 years, so I'm amazing at tying neckties recklessly while scurrying to first period and reciting prayers I may or may not completely understand.

Although not every lesson sunk in. You'll never believe this, but I was, at times, considered insubordinate. I may have made a career out of questioning authority, but asking "Why do we have to..." isn't something typically encouraged in Catholicism.

So it feels strange to cover a Mass as a news story. My first time was in 2013 when Pope Benedict XVI resigned. The cathedral in Dallas invited media to a special Mass to celebrate his papacy.

"So instead of standing, sitting and kneeling quietly," I asked the diocese's media handler. "I can wander around and take pictures... during a Mass?"

I was encouraged to take pictures. The bishop at the time has since become a cardinal and runs the Vatican's business office, so he must be on to something.

The current bishop, Edward Burns, invited reporters back to a special Mass this week to welcome World Cup visitors. They're launching an initiative called "Welcome the world, welcome the stranger."

At the beginning of Mass, the flags of all the countries either playing or training in the Metroplex led the procession and did a couple laps around the church. They also led the procession after Mass.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/dd54f7_cc05327202d347619e2047993a011070/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

The Mass was in Spanish, so I had no idea what anyone was saying, but as a Catholic who may or may not have zoned out quite a bit during English Mass growing up, I still could understand the cadence and knew exactly when to make the sign of the cross, shake everyone's hand or when to make a cross on my forehead, lips and chest before the Gospel.

Here's where this gets complicated. After Mass, the bishop was genuinely excited to see me.

I'd like to go back and tell Li'l Baby Scaia, "Someday a bishop will tell you you're doing a great job. He won't be your bishop because you live in a neighboring diocese, so he won't have access to your double-secret records from Confession, but he'll sound like he really is happy to see you."

In this week's podcast (also available on Spotify!), you can hear leaders of several faiths getting together outside Dallas Police headquarters to pray for a peaceful month where visitors get to see what North Texas is all about (hot weather, for instance).

The bishop also noticed the Vatican flag was part of the procession at the Catholic cathedral. Perhaps the Catholic Church could work toward fielding a World Cup team in 2030.