PARIS (AP) — When Pope Leo XIV was elected last year and it emerged that he was a tennis player, his love of the sport was quickly celebrated during an audience with top-ranked Jannik Sinner.

In the ensuing months, Leo has tried to set aside time in his busy schedule to play the sport every week as part of his Augustinian devotion to physical activity and spirituality.

The Rule of St. Augustine, an ancient guide for religious life, highlights the value of good habits.

When Pope Leo XIV was elected last year and it emerged that he was a tennis player, his love of the sport was quickly celebrated during an audience with top-ranked Jannik Sinner.

In the ensuing months, Leo has tried to set aside time in his busy schedule to play the sport every week as part of his Augustinian devotion to physical activity and spirituality.

The Rule of St. Augustine, an ancient guide for religious life, highlights the value of good habits.

“He’s trying to keep some regularity to his routine that comes from the Rule,” said the Rev. Rob Hagan, Prior of the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova and team chaplain for the men’s basketball and football teams at Villanova University — the pope’s alma mater in Pennsylvania.

Leo’s devotion to St. Augustine was evident when he made a pilgrimage during his Africa trip in April to the archaeological ruins in Algeria where the influential 5th century theologian and philosopher lived and died and wrote some of the most important works in Western thought.