As late as the 1970s, boxing saturated U.S. Catholic culture. It reinforced Catholic ideas about the redemptive value of physical suffering; it also offered a powerful form of assimilation to male Catholic immigrants.

When asked if sports build character, 75 percent of respondents said yes and 25 percent said no.

Watching the N.C.A.A. annual college basketball tournament has become a tradition for many Catholics. March Madness is also a huge moneymaker for everyone except the players.

A conversation with the celebrity sister of college basketball

Matt Malone, S.J., is traveling abroad. But I also suspect he let me be the pinch-hitter for this column in America’s special sports issue out of pity.

A new Vatican team supports fitness and the value of being Christian. And they just might make it to the Olympics someday.